One day, it is the Keeper of the Seals Éric Dupond-Moretti who takes out the heavy artillery: “I want to drive the National Rally out of this land. The next is Minister Amélie de Montchalin who curbs the "sedition attempt" of Marine Le Pen, after her letter to the prefects. Another is Christophe Castaner who denounces the “problem with public money” of the RN with regard to European parliamentary assistants. A formula that is not unlike that of Emmanuel Macron in May 2019 in Biarritz, before the European elections: "We talked more about this political movement for the business of assistants than for political successes", he had assaulted.
Faced with a dynamic National Rally in all polls, the macronie has chosen not to go with the back of the spoon. By making the RN the absolute scarecrow. But will this demonization strategy remain effective in 2021? “In terms of voters, it does not work, it is even counterproductive, it galvanizes the support of the RN before the first round, estimates the pollster Jérôme Sainte-Marie, president of the research company PollingVox. On the other hand, it has an indirect effectiveness. This approach slows down the rallying of senior officials, researchers, executives, etc. which can give credibility to the candidacy of Marine Le Pen. It creates a void around her. And can also motivate left-wing voters to overcome their reluctance and vote LREM in the second round. "
"We must neither demonize nor victimize the National Rally"
To make the RN infrequent, the ministers do not deprive themselves of a few tricks.
Like continuing to talk about the "National Front", despite the party's name change in 2018. Or calling the 2017 finalist "Madame Le Pen" to bring her back to her family tree.
Even, to summon the past.
“There is a story that I have not forgotten.
Like the countless convictions of Jean-Marie Le Pen, for hateful, anti-Semitic remarks.
And that, I intend to remind young people in particular, ”thundered Éric Dupond-Moretti during his declaration of candidacy in La Voix du Nord for the regional ones in Hauts-de-France.
"What is the right angle of attack against Marine Le Pen?" Asks a Macronist strategist openly. We haven't landed yet. The recipes of the years 1980-1990 on the denunciation of racism do not take in public opinion. We must argue about his presidential stature, his fragility in terms of the economy, the weakness of his entourage ... Not easy because Marine Le Pen is currently trying to erase all the roughness of his speech ... "On Europe, debt, institutions, the patroness of the RN is increasingly rounding off the angles. And presents some experienced personalities, such as the senior magistrate Jean-Paul Garraud, head of the RN list in Occitania.
“We must neither demonize nor victimize the National Rally, analyzes the president of the LREM group in the Senate, François Patriat. Simply show that the solutions they propose are not solutions, that they do not hold water. As the 2017 second leg looks more and more likely, each side is sharpening its weapons and formulas. "We must discuss with Ms. Le Pen by showing that she is experiencing problems, while we are trying to solve them," ducked Gerald Darmanin, Saturday, in our columns. There is less than a year left for the majority to decide on a battle plan.