Marine Le Pen is mobilizing her troops this Thursday in Perpignan for her last meeting before the first round of the presidential election, in the largest city held by the National Rally, at the end of a risk-free and quiet campaign, far from her party.
Scalded by her failure in the regional elections in June, due in particular to the abstention of her own voters, working classes and young people in the lead, Marine Le Pen is keen this time to take them to the polls, during her public meeting this Thursday evening at the city fairgrounds.
“If the French move, then Emmanuel Macron will be beaten”, assures Jordan Bardella, head of the RN. On the rise in the polls, it is given in the second round behind Emmanuel Macron and their gap continues to narrow.
Little doubt for the second round
“The fact that it is possible (to win) is a mobilization booster”, hopes the RN mayor of Perpignan, Louis Aliot. Marine Le Pen presents herself as already at the Elysee Palace, not excluding the integration into her government of people “from a sovereignist left”, alongside the former LR Jean-Paul Garraud or Jordan Bardella.
His team even suggests that a meeting is planned for April 14 in Avignon, ruling out the possibility of a failure in the first round. But the mayor of Béziers (Hérault), Robert Ménard, will not come. He says he “is not married to the RN” even if he will vote on Sunday for Marine Le Pen, whose positions he shares on immigration but not on the health crisis.
Everything will be played “in the differential mobilization of each camp”, estimates Nonna Mayer, CNRS researcher specializing in the FN electorate. She underlines in Mediapart the “dynamic” of Marine Le Pen, credited with 21 to 24% of voting intentions (21.3% of votes in 2017): embarrassed, even exceeded in the polls at the start of the campaign by Eric Zemmour, it ends up centered by the radicalism of its rival.
Smoothed image
Between chats and confidences on the sofa, the candidate herself has smoothed her image a lot, even if her project remains as “radical” on immigration and institutions, she says.
Certainly Marine Le Pen still arouses the concern of a majority of French people (51%) but now 39% (against 21% in 2017) consider that she has the makings of a President of the Republic, notes the Jean Foundation -Jaurès, far behind Emmanuel Macron (65%).
Favoring small meetings in the France of the “forgotten”, she defended purchasing power there, which became all the more a priority for the French with the war in Ukraine, which caused prices to soar. Putting the fight against immigration, which has never been abandoned, in the background.
Refusing to support the sanctions against Russia which would strain the household budget, Marine Le Pen “turned a disadvantage to her advantage, by making people forget everything else” of her closeness with Vladimir Putin, who had received her in 2017, notes Mrs Mayer.
I am now ready to rule
Marine Le Pen
“The quiet force is us”, launched in June Marine Le Pen, for the third time candidate, taking up the slogan of the (victorious) campaign of François Mitterrand, elected in 1981 on his third attempt.
She places herself above her rivals but far from her party, of which she has entrusted the reins to Jordan Bardella. A formation which is still very indebted, has lost members and many elected officials in the intermediate polls (municipal and regional).
Not to mention those who joined Eric Zemmour. “No longer being at the head of my movement freed me from the partisan battle. Today I am ready to govern,” she told Le Figaro. Louis Aliot had himself campaigned in the municipal elections without the label of the far-right party.
Candidate of “civil peace” against the president of “chaos”, Marine Le Pen also led a risk-free campaign, moving especially in her strongholds in the south and north of France. While in Brittany or Guadeloupe, she met opponents.
Anxious to avoid any last-minute hiccups, Marine Le Pen’s program was lightened this week. “You have to save money,” says his entourage, who does not want to exhaust his candidate as in 2017. Nor squander his capital of voting intentions.