Here, the sons and daughters of immigrants — squeezed under a political glass ceiling that hangs even lower for minorities now than it did after World War II — are chafing against a political system that hobbles their ambitions.
A few days ago, the French-American Foundation brought three members of Obama’s campaign team face to face with 60 of them in a workshop organized for the sharpest young leaders from minority backgrounds in France.
Participants like Mams Yaffa, 32, who advises minority candidates seeking a toehold on the bottom rung of power, believe that a French Obama will not emerge for another 20 years.
“We need a generation to disappear,” said Mr. Yaffa, born in Mauritania, who was defeated as an independent candidate in municipal elections in 2002. “We are all in our thirties,” he added, “and the people in politics today are the same ones as when we were born.”