The challenge of the second round is to convince the undecided and the abstentionists, who in the first round exceeded 26% of the voter registry. It will be especially important to mobilize the left-wing electorate, the arbiter of this tight race.
movements
Since the publication of the results of the first round, won by Macron (27.8%) ahead of Le Pen (23.1%), the two candidates resumed their campaign, multiplying the displacements, the crowd baths and their interventions on radio and television.
After a short Easter break, the campaigns will launch their final sprint.
The far-right leader will make a trip before immersing herself in preparation for Wednesday’s debate, depending on her surroundings, and will organize her last big rally on Thursday in Arras, in the north of the country.
Macron will also return to travel in the final stretch of a campaign that, according to the candidates, is nothing less than a “clash of civilizations”.
Seduction
Since the close of the first round on April 10, the two finalists have continued to make ecological and social promises to the electorate of radical leftist leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who came in third with almost 22% of the vote.
On Saturday, Macron, often criticized for his environmental management, promised that, if he is re-elected, his policy “will be green or it will not be”, while Le Pen presented herself as a “family mother” who protects the “most vulnerable”.
One week before the second round, in a tense campaign context and with the far right closer to power than ever, Wednesday’s televised debate is set to be decisive.
The traditional duel held since 1974 between the two rounds of all presidential elections in France will be moderated by a journalist from the public channel France 2 and another from the private TF1.
Le Pen and Macron “have a lot at stake”, estimated the sociologist and political communication specialist Philippe Riutort. In 2017, the debate was disastrous for Le Pen, who was aggressive and unprepared against the centrist leader, which, according to many analysts, largely caused her defeat.
Novelty
Five years later, the far-right leader has softened her image, worked on her program and launched a proximity campaign, achieving a more “presidential” profile.
“I am prepared because I have experience, I have worked a lot on the project, I have fine-tuned my project with them (the French), I have brought it closer to their realities, their hopes. It is a serious, balanced, budgeted project, ”said the candidate on Friday.
For his part, the outgoing president does not underestimate an “extremely tight” debate, his entourage admits.
Macron, who no longer has the freshness of five years ago, must try to dismantle his adversary’s program, pointing out the radical aspects that he has tried to cover up on issues such as immigration, Islam and institutions.
He will also try to correct his sometimes perceived image as being too far to the right for left-wing voters.
Thousands of anti-far-right protesters marched across France on Saturday in an attempt to recreate the Republican front capable of defeating Marine Le Pen.
Source: Ambito
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