From rural France, warning signs for Macron's election bid
| Vire, France
Health worker Josiane Comtesse is almost certain she will vote for President Emmanuel Macron in Sunday鈥檚 presidential election, but then she reflects on his plan to make the French work longer and her perception that he is arrogant, and she thinks again.
Like many in the rural Normandy town of Vire, for decades a center-right stronghold, Ms. Comtesse, who works at the local hospital and nearby schools, is swinging from one political offering to another.
鈥淚 was telling my sisters that I鈥檓 hesitating,鈥� she said outside her flat in a low-income estate on the outskirts of Vire. 鈥淚鈥檓 87% sure it鈥檚 Macron ... well it鈥檚 him or this man,鈥� she continued, pointing to a campaign flyer for far-left veteran Jean-Luc M茅lenchon.
Ms. Comtesse acknowledged that the two candidates are diametrically opposed. Mr. Macron is a liberal who embraces globalization and wants in a second term to raise the retirement age to 65. Mr. M茅lenchon is an ardent socialist who talks of guaranteed jobs for the long-term unemployed and restoring a wealth tax.
Vire, a town of some 11,000 people, is the sort of place that Mr. Macron might hope to win comfortably. Historically, the center-right or conservatives have won roughly half the votes here.
However, Mr. Macron鈥檚 2017 dynamiting of a post-war political landscape dominated by the two mainstream parties on the center-right and center-left created a void for populists to fill, analysts say.
The last week has been tough for Mr. Macron. His comfortable lead in polls has eroded as far-right challenger Marine Le Pen and Mr. M茅lenchon both make gains, raising the prospect of a strong anti-Macron vote in the runoff.
A poll this week by Harris Interactive showed Ms. Le Pen, who has softened her rhetoric and tapped into the day-to-day grievances of average voters, notably their purchasing power, within three points of Mr. Macron in the second round.
Even so, M茅lenchon activists like retired professor Olivier Gaussens sense that voter indecision may yet allow their third-placed candidate to cause a first-round upset on Sunday.
Going door-to-door with fellow activists, they spoke to some 30 people. All were undecided, ready to change their minds, or planning to abstain. Many were angered by Mr. Macron鈥檚 plans to push the retirement age back three years.
鈥淲e hope to leverage some of the indecision on issues like retirement, the minimum wage, and higher salaries,鈥� Mr. Gaussens said.
An Elabe poll at the weekend indicated more than 1 in every 4 voters were uncertain about how they would vote.
Voter discontent
Vire鈥檚 mayor Marc Andreu Sabater, is a Macron loyalist. He said Mr. Macron was the best-placed candidate to guide France through the current tumult but conceded the president had not done enough to convince some on issues such as the cost of living.
鈥淭here are a lot of people hesitating between whether they express their anger because they can鈥檛 fill up the cars or pay their electricity bills or, given the context, keep continuity to not knock everything down,鈥� he said.
Surveys show nearly half of all voters intend to shun the center-ground and cast a ballot for a candidate on the far right or hard left as the tussle between liberal globalists and the forces of nationalism that brought Donald Trump to the White House and Brexit to Britain continue to play out in France.
Marie-Therese Hennebel, a retired nuclear factory worker, who lives in the same apartment block as Ms. Comtesse, said she admired Ms. Le Pen鈥檚 folksy charm and straight talking.
鈥淲hen [Le Pen] talks she is fair and tells the truth,鈥� Ms. Hennebel said, bemoaning her low pension and rising food costs. 鈥淭hings are too expensive now. You have nothing left out of 20 euros.鈥�
Inflation in France passed 5% in March. In a region where economic activity centers on industry, agriculture, metals, and automobiles, Vire鈥檚 residents worry the cost of living will only get more expensive if the war in Ukraine carries on.
Remnants of the anti-government 鈥測ellow vest鈥� movement that shook Mr. Macron鈥檚 leadership during 2018-2019 are again coming together in Vire, revealing the underlying discontent in rural France that persists.
They met at a roundabout for the first time in months in late March, the group 鈥� a mix of leftists, far-right sympathizers, and those fed up with France鈥檚 democratic system 鈥� and discussed the need to dislodge Mr. Macron.
Some are ready to vote for Ms. Le Pen in a second round to block Mr. Macron from power, even if they voted Mr. M茅lenchon in round one.
鈥淔ive years of Macron, after five years of quasi-socialism, after five years of [conservative Nicolas] Sarkozy, that鈥檚 enough,鈥� Jean-Marie Thomine, who joined the 鈥測ellow vest鈥� movement in 2018, later said.
This story was reported by Reuters.
