Bruised Sarkozy launches campaign for French regionals

AUBERVILLIERS, France (Reuters) - Battered by a series of political setbacks, French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Saturday launched his campaign for next year's regional elections and called for unity in his center-right UMP party.

Mid-way through his presidential term, Sarkozy faces widespread dissatisfaction and an increasingly hopeful opposition Socialist Party which trounced the UMP in the last regional elections in 2004.

Attempting to rebuild his image as a tough leader committed to reforming France, Sarkozy on Saturday called on assembled regional candidates to "take risks" and defended his fiscal, immigration and security policies since coming to power in 2007.

"Obviously, when you are at the head of the ship and there is a wave that is slightly bigger than the others, you get wet," he said. "But you steer the ship."

Sarkozy is keen to avoid repeating his party's abysmal showing in the 2004 regional elections, when the UMP held onto only two seats out of 24 in mainland France.

But it remains to be seen whether his rallying will help overcome a recent series of politically damaging incidents.

These include sex tourism revelations about Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand, accusations of racism leveled at Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux and a bitter court battle against former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin.

Public opinion of Sarkozy has also plunged following an uproar over plans to install his son as head of the agency in charge of the Paris business district La Defense.

He has also faced growing discontent among UMP lawmakers over subjects ranging from regional government reform to a planned carbon tax that will raise petrol prices.

Meanwhile, the Socialist Party, which has been riven by internal squabbling and still appears to have little chance of mounting an effective fight in a 2012 presidential election, has gained some renewed hope from the turbulence.

At the regional elections, the Socialists have a chance of performing as well as they did in 2004, French daily La Tribune said on Saturday, quoting surveys.

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said the UMP would have to approach the March elections from a national as well as regional perspective.

"It's not merely by having 22 regional campaigns, with everyone in their corner, that we will fight the left and counter attacks against the president of the republic and the government," said Fillon.

(Reporting by Yann Le Guernigou and Sophie Taylor; editing by Robin Pomeroy)