France's Macron projected to win presidency, holding off far-right threat to upend Europe and relations with Russia
Macron barely did any campaigning before the first round of voting, instead focusing on the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. It’s not uncommon for French incumbents to avoid the campaign trail, but his decision enabled Le Pen to claim, as she crisscrossed the country, that she was more attuned to the economic concerns on the minds of French voters — the number one issue over the past weeks.
“I want to let [Macron] have one more term to continue what he has put in place,” said Jean-Philippe Dahene, 56, a Macron voter in the far-right stronghold of Hénin-Beaumont, citing the series of crisis that disrupted Macron’s presidency, including theBut some worry that Macron’s victory will only temporarily alleviate France’s growing polarization.
Almost 60 percent of voters cast their ballots for far-right or far-left candidates in the first round. “Macron should try to listen to all these people who are in difficulty,” said Nathalie Meslin, 58, a lawyer who voted for Macron in Paris on Sunday, even though she said she doesn’t agree with all of his proposals. “In the next 5 years, this anger is likely to grow and unfortunately we risk having extremes come to power.”
When Macron faced off against Le Pen five years ago, he beat her by a margin of more 30 percentage points. But that the gap narrowed to the single digits at certain points this campaign cycle suggests that Le Pen has succeeded at normalizing her party and moderating her image.
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