Americans anxiously watch France presidential election, fear of Le Pen

WASHINGTON – American liberals are anxiously watching Sunday's presidential election in France, where they fear a victory by the far-right Marine LePen would undermine the West's defense of democracy from both external Russian militarism and internal ethnonationalism.

Macron, a centrist investment banker, is not a hero of progressives on either side of the Atlantic, but they say the alternative is far worse, so the choice is obvious.

Matt Duss, foreign policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders, said this is a real threat to the progressives' vision of a pluralistic, multiethnic democracy. Everyone should be aware that a Le Pen victory would be a huge boost for the Trump movement here. Le Pen, the anti-immigrant party leader who has long been friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, is the far-right s best chance of taking control of a major European power after finishing within 5 percentage points of President Emmanuel Macron in the first round of the election this month.

Polls show that Macron is running for a second term, has expanded his lead and most expect he will prevail in Sunday's runoff. The polls were off in the first round and analysts say supporters of a leftist candidate who missed the runoff may stay home or even vote for the anti-establishment Le Pen over the unpopular Macron.

The most important thing to remember is that no French president has won re-election since 2002, so he's sort of starting with the deck stacked against him, said G. Elliott Morris, a polling analyst for the Economist.

While there are many differences between the two countries politics and their leaders, Macron, like President Joe Biden, is facing rising prices due to inflation, disillusionment and accusations of being out of touch with the daily struggles of ordinary people.

Macron and Biden's approval ratings are nearly identical in polling averages, with the share who disapprove about 10 percentage points higher than those who approve.

Le Pen, like the former President Donald Trump and his allies, has railed against le wokisme, a Francification of wokeism, and sparked resentment against Macron and his ilk of cosmopolitan elites for selling French culture and workers, drawing strong support from struggling post-industrial areas and rural territory outside major metro areas.

Morris said the overarching global theme seems to be a reorientation from the 20th century class-based politics to the 21st century identity-based politics.

Some Americans on the American left say that the deficit hawks in the Democratic Party should note how Le Pen has succeeded by championing right-wing cultural views — she called for banning Muslim women from wearing head scarves in public, while outflanking the centrist Macron on some economic issues.

Le Pen has attacked Macron from the left over his plans to cut social welfare programs to make the country more appealing to business by raising the retirement age from 62 to 65.