A look at the news - Nicolas Jutzet
Emmanuel Macron's lucky star has not yet been extinguished. From the launch of his movement, some saw him as a shooting star, a media bubble destined to burst. So far, these prophets of doom have been proven wrong, as they have been far too busy preserving their privileges to pay much attention to what is being felt on the ground. A need for change. Emmanuel Macron had everything going for him: packed meeting rooms with an overexcited atmosphere, the relative indulgence of a press under the spell of the brilliant young man from Amiens, and a remarkable popular enthusiasm with meetings of marchers all over France.
The machine has seized up somewhat in recent days, particularly following his trip to Algeria. He was supposed to confirm his «presidential» stature, but he revived some old demons of French history, with which a fringe of the population has a complicated relationship, to say the least. Emmanuel Macron was right about the facts - colonization is a crime against humanity - but politically, it's a mistake to say so, especially now. He runs the risk of having his remarks taken out of context; no one has noticed that he also recalled the positive consequences of colonization. It also means extending a helping hand to a drowning Fillon. This incursion is all the more damaging in that it contradicts one of the habits that most convinced me in the message from the former Minister of the Economy, Industry and the Digital Economy: you don't rally around whistles and jeers, by stigmatizing. And yet, by putting the subject back on the table, he has reopened the wounds of many people: the harkis, the pieds noirs, the French of Algerian origin, the binationals.
Add to this the ignorant controversies surrounding his «absence of a program», which amounts to intellectual dishonesty given that his vision is already accompanied by a series of quantifiable measures, and you explain an initial fall in the polls. This enthusiasm is forcing Emmanuel Macron to promise the release of «his program» in early March, with a detailed budget framework (the only element he really lacks!). At that point, we'll be slipping into a period which, like the primaries, is bad for democracy. Everyone, like an auctioneer, will be defending their little catalog of measures, dangling the illusion of the State's ability to solve the problems of the French. The belief that a providential man will be able to save France, through a frenzy of laws and decrees unveiled in advance, reduces the role of the President to that of an executor. France, and even more so the Vth Republic are not designed to be run by mere managers, but by men with a strong vision. General de Gaules, Mitterrand yesterday, Macron today.
This is why François Bayrou's offer of support, long convinced of the messianic dimension of his approach, demonstrates that the profound revolution, far more ideological than economic, led by Emmanuel Macron is right. One by one, the obstacles standing in his way have been broken down. There are still some, but the man seems to have been born under a lucky star. He's the man to beat Marine Le Pen in the second round. And he will. The banker will be king.
Write to the author: nicolas.jutzet@leregardlibre.com
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