You're being paranoid. Chirac isn't conservative by US (or UK) standards, but his party is routinely considered the conservative party in France, and is referred to that way in the French press.
Since Sarkozy and this mayor are the only ones to promote anything >remotely< effective, I don't see why you should mind them being called conservative.
I understand where they fall idealogically in relation to our parties. I don't think for a minute that I'm being paranoid. Only conservatives are identified by party as a general rule and I don't think most folks in the US understand the distinction. There is an effort to lay this at the feet of Sarkozy. The AP story included the insinuation that his reference to the rioters as 'scum' was the reason for the escalation. They are giving the Muslim community and Chirac a fairly easy time considering what Bush went through with Katrina. I don't think it's paranoid to think the MSM will try to frame this to reflect negatively on conservatives given their track record.