Deemed highly unlikely only a few months ago, a Marine Le Pen presidency had started to look like a distinct possibility in France even before the first round of the country’s presidential elections. The nationalist leader campaigned hard to capitalize on cost of living fears harbored by French voters, many of whom have also been unimpressed by incumbent Emmanuel Macron’s reluctance to divert his attention from the Ukraine crisis to the elections. Macron’s 11th hour effort helped him to reverse some of these losses. As a result, the incumbent won 27.85% of the votes cast in the first round of the French presidential elections on April 10, while Le Pen collected 23.15%, paving the way for their upcoming face-off in the second round on April 24. Some of the latest polls show Macron winning 55 percent of votes or more in that second round, but there is still a chance that Le Pen, a nationalist firebrand who has “put water in her vodka,” considerably toning down her anti-EU rhetoric, can still win on April 24.
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