The battle for the popular electorate has begun. Ten days before the second round, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen face the same challenge to win: capture the abstentionist vote and seduce the approximately 21.95% of voters who supported Jean-Luc Mélenchon on Sunday April 10, only reserve of substantial votes for the two finalists, at the end of an election which consecrated the collapse of the traditional parties.
At the heart of this double offensive: the question of purchasing power and inflation, but also that of pensions and salaries. After a campaign cut short by the war in Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron is now seeking to give a more social dimension to his program, when it is above all his right-wing proposals – extension of the retirement age to 65, RSA conditioned on 15 to 20 hours of activity or employment – which have “take the light”regretted his campaign team a few days ago.
For her part, Marine Le Pen intends to consolidate and broaden the base of her electorate, while taking care to reassure in order to appear presidential. Since Sunday, both have been winking at voters on the far left, inviting them to join a vast front that would go beyond traditional political divisions.
“The France of the Forgotten”
“For now, Marine Le Pen is staying in her lane and hammering home her flagship measures for purchasing power, observes Bruno Cautrès, CNRS researcher at Cevipof. It has worked for him so far and allowed him to open up a wider spectrum than in 2017.” Emmanuel Macron, he has chosen to adjust his offer and multiplies social gestures, he continues. With two strangers : “Will he be able to convince of the sincerity of this change of line? And will his electorate follow him if he adjusts his program too much? »
The day after the first round, both were on the ground to praise the social and economic measures likely, in their eyes, to improve the daily lives of their fellow citizens – Emmanuel Macron in a popular commune in the North which had placed the National Rally in the lead , Marine Le Pen with farmers in Yonne.
Addressing “the France of the forgotten”talking about “social havoc”, she denounced the “wall of inflation” that the executive – which has mobilized nearly 30 billion euros for six months to help households – would not have anticipated enough. A message that she has been hammering for months and which has allowed her to pose as the candidate of purchasing power. “She has this ability to speak to the electorate of Jean-Luc Mélenchonexplains political scientist Gilles Ivaldi, a specialist in the far right. About 30% of those who voted for her say they were backing her up, up from just 10% to 12% in 2017.”
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