Dear all,
Emmanuel Macron won the most votes in the first round of France’s presidential election. He will face far-right candidate Marine Le Pen at the end of next week. We should not hide our pleasure and downplay what is no less than an earth-shattering political revolution: a 39-year old with no prior electoral experience will (most likely) become president in a country which so far has only rewarded seasoned politicians. And the comparison with Donald Trump is telling enough: instead of an old, disgruntled conservative billionaire, France is about to be led by a young, optimistic progressive political entrepreneur.
The coming two weeks, however, will probably be disappointing. On the one hand, it is true that Emmanuel is all but certain to win the run-off election, probably with more than 60% of the votes: the rejection of Marine Le Pen across the political spectrum is simply too high and, unlike Donald Trump, she doesn’t enjoy the support of a mainstream major party. On the other …