Français! Choisir, pas difficile!

This past Sunday the people of France voted in the first round of that country's presidential election. Walt's preferred candidate, Marine Le Pen, leader of the Front National, finished a close second to Emmanuel Macron, the candidate of the "extreme centre". The only surprise, to me, was that Mme Le Pen did not finish first, after the latest Islamic terrorist attack. This result, while largely in line with polling expectations, is still a huge event in the long-term arc of French politics. For a good analysis of why this is so, see "The French election, explained in 9 maps and charts", on Vox, 25/4/17.

The second round of the election -- the finale -- will take place on May 7th, when Mme Le Pen and M Macron go mano-a-mano, so to speak. The winner becomes the president of France. Well before the polls closed on the first round, the lamestream media were crowing that, even if Mme Le Pen, topped the polls, she would get trounced in the second round by whichever "mainstream" candidate she faced. That's because (they say) Mme Le Pen is a creature of the extreme right and is unacceptable to the vast majority of progressive, modern, politically correct yada yada yada voters. Just like Donald Trump.

Well, yaboo to that! According to the latest Opinionway-Orpi poll, as reported in the online edition of the Express today, Marine Le Pen's campaign for the presidency is gathering increasing momentum as she closes the gap on M Macron. The poll showed Mme Le Pen would garner 41% of the vote in the runoff – a score up two percentage points in two days -- while M Macron's share dropped to 59%.

Other polls are in the same range. A 20-point gap is a lot, but the polls show the momentum is with Mme Le Pen. By acting too confident, M Macron could easily blow the election that is his to lose. Just like Hellery Clinton.

What is important is that the people of France have, for the first time since Charles De Gaulle returned from Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, a clear choice for their future. They can vote for France and for civilization, or for globalism and the Islamization of Europe. It's that simple.