Le Pen Would Beat Sarkozy: Poll

An online poll that puts far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the lead for the first round of next year's presidential election has France in shock, reports the BBC. Le Pen, who took over from her father as head of the National Front party, took the lead in a Le Parisien survey with 23% of the vote, two percentage points ahead of both President Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist leader Martine Aubry. But the BBC notes that some are poking at the poll's accuracy: Online surveys aren't as reliable as their telephone counterparts, and this one assumed Aubry will be the Socialists' candidate, a decision that has yet to be made. (More Marine Le Pen stories.)