His visits to remote villages, his embarrassingly personal interviews, and his habit of throwing away large boards of his podium, reminded voters of the surprises because they did not like him from the beginning. The Macron Way of Triangulating may one day be studied in political science classes as the best illustration of how not to do it. No, you should not, in the heart of a fortress of Marin Le Pen, respond to people who complain that they can not get by with occult passages from forgotten philosophers. No, having pushed laïcité (the French brand of hardcore secularism) to the limit for your entire term, you should not indulge in a cynical photo shoot with a girl wearing a headscarf, shouting that it symbolizes New France, unless you want to. . considered opportunistic and dishonest. No, having promised to reduce France’s huge debt (120 percent of GDP), you should not announce, in part, that you will finally drop your basic reform to raise the retirement age to 65. No, it’s probably not a good idea to send your official representative to brag that France, led by you, has done its utmost to support Ukraine – just as Ukrainian Twitter is inventing a new word, Makronizm, which means ” to promise results again and again and again, not delivery “. It is difficult to try to attract voters at both ends of the spectrum. But there is now a sense that Macron is falling into despair as he throws seemingly unprepared new measures at anyone he thinks could hear. The last of these, as of yesterday, was the proposed amendment to the French Constitution to restore the renewable seven-year presidency, which dates back to the Third Republic and was abolished by Jacques Chirac (in a similar step outside the left) in 2003. it happens, the French do not like the five-year term. but from a president facing a difficult re-election, it seemed like a ploy to secure permanent residence at the Palais des Elysées. In the face of this whirlwind of contradictory, half-hearted new initiatives, Le Pen has continued to advance its culturally reactionary and socially progressive agenda. He wants more benefits for the French, almost none for the foreigners. Less taxes; help for young people starting a life; and nationalist campaigns with huge tax cuts for families, à la Viktor Orbán. He no longer wants to leave the EU or even the euro, because he is not the winner of the vote. He claims that France will be able to rely on Russia, but “only when the conflict in Ukraine is over.” It does not say what this should be – a complete defeat for Putin or a broken and divided Ukraine. and not many people ask her. What it means is that fuel and gas bills will then be reduced, something that resonates with its key voters. It’s a miserable choice for the French on April 24, but it’s significant – and Macron could lose his bet, because despite his stance, his run-off looks fatally silly.
