Vive la France
Goodbye to Le Pen, but what’s next for Europe?
The center held. Political neophyte Emmanuel Macron crushed far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen in Sunday’s race to become president of France.
The French tricolor didn’t wave alone at the 39-year-old former economy minister’s victory party. The European Union’s stars of unity fluttered throughout the crowd as Macron took the stage to the sounds of “Ode to Joy,” the EU’s anthem. His election delivers not only a clear rejection of Le Pen’s loathsome attitude toward immigrants and Muslims, and her political party’s longtime embrace of anti-Semitism, but also her promise to follow Britain in leaving the EU.
The post-war dream of a united Europe currently faces a rogues gallery of opponents ranging from Le Pen to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and even our own President Donald Trump. And make no mistake, the battle to save Europe is not over.
Macron ran on his own political movement — “En Marche!” — while voters rejected his nation’s traditional political parties. The passions of populism and nationalism will again be on the ballot in France’s legislative elections in June. Now the new president must confront the cultural and economic crises that continue to vex not only France, but also the rest of the trans-Atlantic alliance.
Macron has promised to boost France’s economy by cutting the nation’s notoriously restrictive regulations, investing in green energy and strengthening the EU. That’s all well and good, but cautious moderation is no answer to the illiberalism that’s set across both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. People need to know that their government is working for them. A growing stock market doesn’t mean much to a 50-yearold worker who hasn’t seen a raise in years. And a single charismatic politician is not a policy prescription for fixing the global economic trends that continue to disrupt the developed world.
Political victories can be fleeting. Barack Obama ran on the English version of “En Marche!” — Forward! — in 2012. He was followed by Trump.
The change that people need is the kind that jingles in their pockets. The hope that truly helps is the well-informed optimism of parents thinking about their kids’ futures.
Since the Great Recession, the Western world has seen the rich grow richer while the criminal bankers who precipitated the global financial collapse went unpunished. If centrist candidates cannot finger the bad guys in our economic order, then people will find their own scapegoats — immigrants, Muslims, international trade, conspiracy theories. Clever politicians have no problem leaping on that wave of anger and riding it to victory, even if it means abandoning Western ideals of egalité, liberté and fraternité.
Yes, the center held in France. Now it needs to think about the next move.