The statement of principles of France’s Parti socialiste (PS) tells us that “To be a socialist is not to be satisfied with the world as it is; it is the will to change society.” It is a mission statement signaling a desire to transform the basic conditions of the country, and as profound economic worries roil Europe, the party seems perfectly positioned to leverage that message in the run-up to next year’s presidential election in France. And yet, when asked to describe what kind of president he would be, François Hollande, the party’s nominee in this spring’s presidential election, has preferred to use the word “normal.”

Inextricable from the word normal, of course, is abnormal. When Hollande identified with normalcy (and “calm”), one purpose was to contrast himself to the current occupant of the presidential palace at Elysee. Polls indicate that Nicholas Sarkozy is the most disliked president in the Fifth Republic’s history. He is dismissed as “hyper” and, more damaging, has appeared too enamored of power’s trappings.

For its part, the PS has momentum, with a long string of successes in regional, municipal and local elections, capped in September by the first pro-Socialist majority in the Senate. The Socialists are hungry for the presidency, which they haven’t won since François Mitterrand’s reelection in 1988. A French weekly’s cover read recently, “The Smell of a Reign’s End.”

But though Hollande will be the standard-bearer for a party with an idealistic self-image, vying for an office that has a tremendous amount of power at its disposal, one of his main goals seems to be to conserve the social protections of the existing “French Model.” And for most French citizens, that may very well be enough.

FRANCE’S CURRENT WOES are undeniable. Its projected annual growth is 1 percent of GDP, unemployment is at an eleven year high, the budget deficit is large, and its banks heavily exposed to staggering Greece and shaky Italy.