I noted last week that Marine Le Pen could well shut out French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the first round.
Sure enough, I read this as an attempt, however clumsily, to win some of those culturally right-wing Front National voters back. Sarkozy, as Minister of the Interior, co-opted Marine’s father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, in the 2007 elections in an incredibly skillful way.
With Marine polling substantially higher than her father’s 10.4% in 2007, it’s clear that Sarkozy will sending some quiet, but sure, signals to FN voters to attract the support he’ll need in the first round to advance to the runoff.
