EUROPE : French Voters Do About-Face Before Election : Premier Balladur, long the front-runner in president race, now trails ‘Napoleonic’ Jacques Chirac and Socialist Lionel Jospin in the polls.

The best way to chart the changing fortunes of French presidential candidates these days is to tune in to the nightly antics of television’s satirical puppets from the “Bebete Show” and “Les Guignols de l’Info.”

Just a few weeks ago, the puppet playing Jacques Chirac was stumbling around the “Guignols” stage with knives buried in his back, seemingly the only one unaware that his campaign was dying. “I feel fine,” he said, “except for this itch in my back.”

But, just a few nights ago, it was Chirac’s challenger, Prime Minister Edouard Balladur, on the hot seat in “Bebete.” Balladur’s puppet struggled mutely to respond to the question: “How are you?” Finally, the puppet admitted: “It’s the first time I’ve had to campaign in public before.”

As the puppets suggest, the very real race to replace retiring President Francois Mitterrand has been turned inside out in a few short weeks.

Balladur, the front-runner and odds-on favorite for months, is running third in opinion polls, as much as 10 points behind Chirac, longtime Paris mayor and a fellow conservative. In between is the Socialist Party candidate, Lionel Jospin.

But 45% of the voters say they have not yet made up their minds. And the first round of the election is April 23, five weeks away.

“Things have certainly turned around, and maybe not for the last time,” said Denis Lacorne, a political analyst with the Center for International Study and Research. “Chirac has the big momentum. But it’s the first time that so many voters have been undecided this close to the elections.”

If none of the 10 candidates receives more than 50% of the vote, as seems likely, the top two will face each other May 7.

Although Jospin has been running a strong second, he is given little chance of winning. Even if he makes it to the final round, the polls suggest that either Chirac or Balladur would defeat him.

But the problem facing French voters is that there is not much difference between Chirac and Balladur. Both are members of the conservative Rally for the Republic Party. They both want to fight unemployment and support continued privatization of state enterprises and a single European currency.

But in terms of style and image, the two contemporaries could not be more different.

Balladur, 65, is the able administrator--aloof, patrician and courteous but clearly uncomfortable with people. By contrast, Chirac, 62, is the ultimate politician--dynamic, at ease on the campaign trail and able to take both sides of an issue.

At first, those differences helped Balladur. His serenity and tranquillity were signs of stability, a trait much appreciated in a country weary of radical change.

In those early days, the voters did not seem to want a career politician like Chirac, who is making his third bid for the presidency.

Suddenly, though, the electorate seems to have changed its mind.

Now voters see Balladur as boring and uninspiring with, as one magazine described it, “all the charisma of an interoffice memo.” And now Chirac has the “Napoleonic” aura of a leader, says one analyst, who adds that the French like authoritarian figures.

Balladur has been hurt by reports, which he acknowledged without apology, that he profited handsomely, though legally, doing consulting work for his old company while a legislator. In addition, he made a $500,000 profit selling stock in that company before he became finance minister and helped privatize it.

Most analysts believe that the prime minister can still turn his campaign around. Balladur has been smiling more, cracking jokes and trying to remind voters that he still has the qualities that once made him a front-runner.

“I’m not a politician,” he told a television interviewer recently. “I’m just what God made me.”

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Leading Candidates

* Edouard Balladur Party: Rally for the Republic. Formal demeanor has broad appeal among older voters, and the economy has picked up some during his 22 months as prime minister. But his efforts to appeal to ordinary voters have been undermined by reports of his wealth.

* Jacques Chirac Party: Rally for the Republic. Long-held ambition for the presidency looked like a long shot until recently. His sudden concern for society’s downtrodden, after years of favoring business, may be, as his critics say, a ploy to win over moderate voters. But it appears to be working.

* Lionel Jospin Party: Socialist, a relative unknown, he is the only one of the three major candidates with a clear platform. He would end the government’s privatization plan, for example. But many voters believe the Socialists have had 14 years to carry out their policies, and now it’s the conservatives’ turn.