French voters rejected the political mainstream in the first round of their presidential election, held last weekend. Emmanuel Macron, a political neophyte who is running from the center, and the far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen, will square off in the runoff ballot on May 7. While Macron is favored to prevail in next month's vote, that outcome is, in the current political environment, by no means assured. Still, there are reasons to be optimistic about his chances, not least of which are general opposition to Le Pen and the seeming ceiling on support for her nationalist, revolutionary positions.
Eleven candidates contested Sunday's vote, a crowded field that many feared would so divide the mainstream votes that it would propel extremist candidates into the runoff. While polls had shown a solid core of support for Le Pen, a number large enough to get her into the second round, recent surveys has also revealed a surge for the far-left candidate. By the time the polls closed on Sunday night, however, Macron had taken a largest share of the vote — around 24 percent — and Le Pen had performed as expected, coming in second with a little more than 21 percent.
The results are a rejection of the political mainstream in France. The May ballot will mark the first time in the modern French republic that no major party is represented in a presidential election. That outcome is the result of several distinct problems. First, the Socialists were hobbled by an incumbent president from their own party, Francois Holland, whose performance has been appalling. Second, the center-right Republicain party candidate, ex-Prime Minister Francois Fillon, has been plagued by scandal throughout the campaign and never regained his balance after the first allegations of corruption and nepotism were aired.