Presidential: on D-7, Macron-Le Pen or the “choice of civilization”

A week before the second round of the presidential election on Sunday, nothing is played between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, in an electric campaign where everyone is trying to unite beyond their camp.

In this undecided duel at loggerheads, the outgoing president has a slight advantage over his far-right rival, if opinion polls are to be believed.

He would win in the second round on Sunday in a range of 53 to 55.5% against 44.5 to 47% for Marine Le Pen, up slightly but within the margin of error and, therefore, not immune to a misstep or a strong mobilization of the anti-Macron electorate.

The challenge of this second round is to convince the undecided and the abstainers, who in the first round were more than 26% of the population of voting age. In this respect, the televised debate on Wednesday evening between the two rivals will play a decisive role.

In 2017, the candidate of the National Rally sank against Emmanuel Macron. She believes she is better prepared this time and says she is “extremely serene”.

In the meantime, she is resting this Easter Sunday, without an appointment and with only one media recorded the day before: the program “Sunday in politics” on France 3.

Monday morning, the candidate should make a trip before plunging again into the preparations for Wednesday’s debate, according to those around her.

It will hold its last major meeting in Arras next Thursday, in Pas-de-Calais.

Since the first round, Ms. Le Pen’s strategy has aimed to establish her credibility and continue to smooth her image, while Le Pen’s name, associated with the far right, has resonated in France for decades.

– “Without excess” –

She held two major press conferences on sovereign subjects, institutions and diplomacy, spoke a lot in the media, and held a single meeting, in Avignon on Thursday evening.

She maintains the theme of purchasing power, rather than immigration, and opposes two France, that of the “elites” favorable according to her to Emmanuel Macron and the other, popular, which she claims to embody.

Ms. Le Pen thus poses “as a mother” who would lead the country “with common sense, with consistency, without excess, without excess”, by defending the “most vulnerable”.

“The first round showed, with the Mélenchon and Le Pen votes, a formidable divorce between the outgoing president and the popular categories”, underlines Nicolas Lebourg, researcher at the University of Montpellier and specialist in the far right, in Philosophie Magazine .

“The question is not to gather voices from the left: it is to convince the popular categories that they will be less mistreated, more respected and better protected with her as president,” he adds.

– “Listening” –

On the other hand, the outgoing president, who entered the campaign late, is multiplying by seeking to mobilize, convince and be “listening” to the French.

Massive walkabouts, visits to several cities in one day, meetings in public squares such as in Strasbourg on Tuesday and Marseille on Saturday, tit for tat discussions with opponents, daily media interviews: the contrast is total with the candidate Macron of the first round .

In Marseille on Saturday, he made a long plea in favor of ecology – a crucial theme on the left and in particular among the voters of Jean-Luc Mélenchon -, while calling for a rally behind him in the face of the rise of the extreme right.

He attacks his opponent head-on, declaring for example on Saturday that “even incompetent, she is climatosceptic” seeking to “demonize” her to take advantage of this “republican front” which had propelled him president in 2017 and which has since been dulled.

However, he can take advantage of a growing number of supporters, from left and right, cherishing the hope of a major political reorganization. After the athletes, a number of personalities from the world of culture called on Friday to vote for him in the second round to block the far right.

In a column published in the JDD, a thousand players in the world of health call on Sunday “directly to block the far right”, by voting “in favor of the current President of the Republic”.

Like his opponent, Emmanuel Macron has nothing on his official agenda on Sunday before interviews Monday morning at France Culture then C à vous in the evening. Then, a series of moves in the home stretch of an election which, according to the candidates, is nothing less than a “choice of civilization”.

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