President Emmanuel Macron will not be able to count on French voters' traditional anti-far right front in the final runoff and will need to step up his campaign if he is to defeat Marine Le Pen, who has successfully softened her image.
Although Macron was projected to win a better-than-expected first round score of 28%, improving on his 2017 result, Macron cannot count on victory: polls forecast a razor-thin margin of victory against Le Pen in the April 24 run-off.
"Among politicians, the republican front is putting itself in motion. It remains to be seen whether voters will follow," said Mathieu Gallard, head of research at Ipsos France. Complicating Macron's task, Le Pen has largely dropped her more pugnacious anti-immigration, anti-European Union rhetoric, focusing more on cost of living issues.Another Ifop survey in March showed that fewer than half of all French now found her "scary".
Other Melenchon supporters were still unsure. "I'll see how the next two weeks go. If the polls say 49-51, at that moment I will vote Macron," said Guillaume Raffi, 36, a music producer from Montpellier.
México Últimas Noticias, México Titulares
Similar News:También puedes leer noticias similares a ésta que hemos recopilado de otras fuentes de noticias.
In France, it's Macron vs. Le Pen, again, for presidencyIncumbent Emmanuel Macron will face far-right nationalist candidate Marine Le Pen in a winner-takes-all runoff for the French presidency.
Leer más »
In France, it's Macron vs. Le Pen, again, for presidencyPARIS (AP) — Incumbent Emmanuel Macron will face far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen in a winner-takes-all runoff for the French presidency, after they both advanced Sunday in the first round of voting in the country’s election to set up another head-to-head clash of their sharply opposing visions for France.
Leer más »
In France, it's Macron vs. Le Pen, again, for presidencyIncumbent Emmanuel Macron will face far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen in a winner-takes-all runoff for the French presidency, after they both advanced Sunday in the first round of voting in the country’s election to set up another head-to-head clash of their sharply opposing visions for France. Macron, now 44, emerged ahead from Sunday's first round, but the runoff is essentially a new election and the next two weeks of campaigning to the April 24 second-round vote promise to be bruising and confrontational against his 53-year-old political nemesis. Savvier and more polished as she makes her third attempt to become France's first woman president, Le Pen was handsomely rewarded Sunday at the ballot box for her years-long effort to rebrand herself as more pragmatic and less extreme.
Leer más »
Breakingviews - Macron-Le Pen replay reveals deeper French splitsFrance’s presidential election looks like a re-run of five years ago. But the first round on Sunday, which saw incumbent Emmanuel Macron fend off a late surge by far-right rival Marine Le Pen , revealed a more polarised country. Whoever makes it to the Élysée Palace will find the euro zone’s second biggest economy hard to govern.
Leer más »
Macron-Le Pen replay reveals deeper French splitsPresident Emmanuel Macron resisted a surge in support for his far-right challenger Marine Le Pen in the first round of elections. But the vote laid bare more divisions than existed five years ago. These rifts will make running the euro zone’s second biggest economy arduous.
Leer más »
Macron leads Le Pen in French presidential race – projectionsFrench President Emmanuel Macron leads far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the first round of France's elections, with the rivals now set to battle for the presidency in the final round
Leer más »