“Persistence sometimes pays off, even in the cutthroat world of politics.” The person who inspires this observation to The vanguard is Marine Le Pen. Often given in recent months for being outdated, even losing, the candidate of the National Rally is making a comeback in the polls a few days before the first round, to the point that her “resistance is one of the highlights of this campaign”, estimates the Spanish daily. At 17.5% of voting intentions according to the latest Ipsos poll of March 28, she took the advantage over her far-right rival, Éric Zemmour (11.5%).
“Analysts have probably underestimated the loyalty of the RN electorate. Certainly, Zemmour seduces, but the extremism of its ideas and its proposals will have contributed, paradoxically, to temper the image of Marine Le Pen. For her, the main adversary before the second round is today the candidate of rebellious France, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, against whom she has “an advantage”, according to the daily: “A dual strategy that is both ultranationalist (and tough on immigration) and social.”
Nervousness of opponents
The analysis is corroborated in London by the Spectator. The weekly returns to the stampede suffered by Le Pen on Sunday March 27, in Guadeloupe, and which it considers a sign of nervousness from its opponents. It was a “incident regrettable”, which was immediately condemned by the President of the Republic. But he could “ultimately to benefit Marine Le Pen, the undecided being tempted to give her their vote to protest against the methods of intimidation of a certain left”.
The Conservative newspaper pleads guilty to having “underestimated his tenacity, his resilience and his stubborn refusal to throw in the towel” these last years, and goes so far as to imagine Le Pen jeopardizing a victory for Emmanuel Macron in the second round, the president having been absent from the electoral campaign, too busy on the floor of international diplomacy. Result, some ministers went on the attack during the weekend and denounced in the Eure the “amazing metamorphosis” of Marine Le Pen, revealing in passing the nervousness of their camp, notes the newspaper. “At the moment everything is calm on the Republican front, but that will change on April 10 if Macron and Le Pen face each other in the second round.”