Can Obama’s Hope Sway the French Election? – The New Yorker
The French election is very important to the future of France and the values that we care so much about, the former President Barack Obama says in a video endorsing the front-runner, Emmanuel Macron.CreditPHOTOGRAPH COURTESY EMMANUELMACRON / TWITTER
Where was Barack Obama on the day that Republicans in the House of Representatives dealt a potentially mortal wound to the AffordableCare Act, his signature domestic achievement? In Franceat least, on French Twitter, where a video of Obama endorsing Emmanuel Macron for President waspinned* to the top of Macrons page. The video is vintage POTUS 44, Obama in high dad mode. With a flag pin in his lapel and a silver tie to match his silver hair, Obama fixes the camera with that familiar sober, sympathetic gaze. Ive always been grateful for the friendship of the French people, and for the work we did together when I was President of the United States, he begins, as French subtitles appear in a hip sans-serif font. Im not planning to get involved in many elections now that I dont have to run for office again. But the French election is very important to the future of France and the values that we care so much about.
As interferences in a foreign election go, this is no alleged Kremlin-directed hacking of the D.N.C. But its still fairly surreala word whose sense depreciates by the dayto see the former President inform the citizens of France that Macron, who faces Marine Le Pen, of the National Front, on Sunday in the elections second and final round, is the best choice to lead their divided nation as the cracks in ours deepen by the day. After Brexit and Trump, the pressure is on France to reject Le Pens nationalist fascism and to uphold liberal values, as Obama says (mistranslated in the video as valeurs libralesfree-market valuesthough in the case of Macron those may apply, too). It cant be easy for a former leader of the free world to implore another country to save it. Obama, of course, keeps his famous cool, but the whole thing seems far too Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi for comfort.
Obama has long enjoyed huge popularity in France, and, as Lauren Collins wrote in her recent Letter from France for the magazine, Macron, as a candidate, has done his best to emulate him circa 2008. Like the first-term senator from Illinois, Macron vaulted to his front-runner status with astonishing speed, skipping the formality of an established political career. He has never held elected office, and last year abandoned Franois Hollandes sputtering Socialist Party, for which he served as the minister of the economy, to build his own technocratic, centrist one, En Marche! (So much for those of us who prayed that the exclamation point might be retired from political service after the failure of Jeb!) Macron, who is thirty-nine, has played up his youth as an asset and has staffed his operation with an army of chipper volunteers, a species not previously thought to be native to France. And, in an election cycle that seemed to beg for some good mudslingingboth Le Pen and Franois Fillon, who ran as the candidate of the center-right Les Rpublicains, are being investigated for corruptionMacron has been conspicuously determined to run a positive campaign. Lespoirhopeis a favorite word. He appeals to peoples hopes, and not their fears, as Obama says in his ad.
Macrons upbeat temperament has lately been tested as he has gone head to head with Le Pen, whom he narrowly bested in the elections first round, on April 23rd. On Wednesday night, the two finalists met in a debate so aggressive and brutal that it seemed positively American. Le Pen, who has harped repeatedly on the four years that Macron worked as an investment banker at Rothschildan anti-Semitic dogwhistle that has been enthusiastically amplified by her supporterssuggested that Macron might be stashing money in an offshore account. (False.) Macron called Le Pen a liar. (True.) She called him the representative of subjugated France; he said that she would mire France in civil war. Viewers were shocked. This is not the sort of thing that usually happens in French elections, which to an American observer are almost unbearably reasonable in their decorum and restraint. Candidates get an equitable amount of airtime, mercifully limited by law; the two-round voting system means that small-party candidates enjoy greater legitimacy and influence, and that those citizens who voted in the first round for a candidate who doesnt make it to the second can still cast their ballot for a finalist, rather than for a protest candidate.
But French voters can still cast a blank ballot or decide not to vote at all, an outcome that Macron has ample reason to fear. Jean-Luc Mlenchon, the far-left candidate in the race, won nearly twenty per cent of the vote in the first round, two points fewer than Le Pen, and though he has said that he will be casting a vote, he has not said whether itwill be for Macron, or blank. (He did say that supporting Le Pen is out of the question.) Le Pen is a racist and a fascist; Mlenchon is not. But both abhor the European Union and the globalist, pro-E.U., pro-business positions of Macron. A poll released earlier this week found that sixty-five per cent of Mlenchons supporters are planning either to cast a blank ballot or to not vote, while a study conducted by Sciences Po found that up to fourteen million peoplea third of the French electoratemay not vote.
The threat of blank ballots is causing bitter rancor in the French Left. My Facebook feed has filled with impassioned posts from French friends who supported Mlenchon in the first round begging their compatriots to go vote. One such friend, Jacky Goldberg, told me that the last two weeks of discord have been exhausting. Were beyond rationality, he wrote me in an e-mail. Im worried that this fracture, symbolized by Mlenchons silence, and by the choice of two-thirds of his supporters to abstain, will bury the Left in the years to comewhatever remains of the Left, that is.
It is hard to imagine any Mlenchon voter being swayed by Obamas video, with its everythings-going-to-be-all-right tone. More persuasive was one recorded by Yanis Varoufakis, the former finance minister of Greece, who also published a thoughtful op-ed in the Guardian to elaborate on his views. Progressives, Varoufakis wrote, see Macron, correctly, as the minister who stripped full-time French workers of hard-won labor rights and who today is the establishments last resort against Le Pen. (As a minister in Hollandes government, Macron championed a disastrously unpopular piece of legislation softening traditional French labor protections.) But, he argues, blocking Le Pen is more than enough reason to vote for him. Varoufakis also notes Macrons opposition to austerity in Greece: Perhaps because Macron did not emerge from the test tube of social-democratic party politics, he was the only minister of the Franco-German axis to risk his own political capital by coming to Greeces aid in 2015. Varoufakis has plenty of disagreements with Macron, but for them to matter, the guy has to first be put in office. Allow me to be unequivocal, he says in his video. Vote for Macron with the same energy and enthusiasm with which were going to oppose him the day after he becomes President of France.
On Friday, Macrons staff announced that his campaign had been the target of amassive and coordinated hackdesigned to sow doubt and misinformation in the racesfinal hours. Even so, he will likely win on Sunday.But doesMacronactually appeal to peoples hopes, not their fears, as Obama says? Running against a hateful, fear-mongering candidate like Le Pen can be just another way of turning fear into a political advantage; any undecided voters who will side with Macron this weekend will do so out of fear of electing Le Pen. And Macron doesnt represent that other great Obama promise of change you can believe in; more like change that you may have to swallow for your own good. Thats a hard message to sell as a candidate, and it wont get any easier for a President of an anxious, split nation. On the eve oftheelection, Macron has replaced Obamas endorsement witha newpinnedTweet, brief and to the point: Votez.
*Editors note: This post has been updated to reflect that Obamas YouTube video no longer appears at the top of Macrons Twitter page.
See the article here:
Can Obama's Hope Sway the French Election? - The New Yorker
- Barack Obama heads to the UK for talks - voice-online.co.uk - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Michelle Obama had to fight back tears during podcast. Heres why - PennLive - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Barack Obama to lift the lid on life in office in two live appearances - The Independent - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- FanDuel adds former Obama advisor and ex-NFL head to policy team - EGR North America - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Obama's scathing assessment of Biden's failed campaign revealed - Fox News - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- An Evening With Barack Obama Heading To Arenas In London And Dublin In September - Stereoboard.com - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- An Evening with President Barack Obama announced for London and Dublin - Mixtape Madness - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Former President Barack Obama to speak at Dublin event later this year - Hotpress - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Barack and Michelle Obama Say They're 'So Proud' of Daughter Malia on 27th Birthday: 'Keep Shining Bright, My Love' - People.com - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Steph Curry revealed what Barack Obama's golf game is like after playing with him and Jordan Spieth - The Golfing Gazette - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Barack and Michelle Obama Share Why They're "So Proud" of Malia on Her 27th Birthday - instyle.com - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Michelle Obama's new photo of Malia on her birthday leaves fans saying the same thing - hellomagazine.com - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Malia Obama celebrates her birthday on Fourth of July: Our favorite looks over the years - hola.com - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Your campaign is a mess: What incredulous Obama thought of Biden running again - Washington Examiner - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Malia Obama, Suri Cruise, Jennifer Garner, and more celebs wearing overalls - hola.com - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Bush, Obama and singer Bono fault Trumps gutting of USAID on agencys last day - Politico - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- USAID officially closes, attracting condemnation from Obama and Bush - BBC - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Mamdani campaign hires former Obama, Clinton spokesperson who wished death on Trump - New York Post - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Bush, Obama and singer Bono fault Trumps gutting of USAID on agencys last day - AP News - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- News - Mrs. Obama: Nation Must Step up Forever for Military Families - DVIDS - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- News - Obama: Wont Accept Budget That Shortchanges Readiness - DVIDS - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Malia Obama shows off her summer abs on the way to the gym in Los Angeles - HOLA - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Readers respond: Obama deal would have avoided Trump bombing - OregonLive.com - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Rubio hails end of USAID as Bush, Obama deplore cost in lives - France 24 - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Obama, Bush and Bono bid a fond farewell to USAID - Daily Kos - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Fmr. Obama Treasury Sec. concerned Zohran Mamdani will ruin NYC if elected mayor - Fox News - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Comments - Obama and Bush Team Up To Shred Trump Over USAID - The Bulwark - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- How Trump plays with new media says a lot about him as it did with FDR, Kennedy and Obama - The Conversation - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Obama Urges Americans to Pressure Reps to Reject Trump Megabill - The Rickey Smiley Morning Show - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Obama and Bush Unite in Rare Move Against Trump - The Daily Beast - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Bush, Obama and Bono Commend USAID Staff Members on Their Last Day - The New York Times - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Lucas: Obama and the Democrats paved the way for Irans nuclear program - Boston Herald - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Obama, Bush decry travesty of Trumps gutting of USAID on its last day - Al Jazeera - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Obama, Bush criticize Trump administration for gutting USAID - Washington Examiner - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- 10 Years Later: Looking Back On a Week That Shaped Our Country - Barack Obama Medium - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Bush, Obama and Bono bid farewell to USAID as 14m more deaths forecast without it - The Independent - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Obama, Bush and Bono eulogize USAID on final day - The Week - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- House Republicans call for investigation into Obama-appointed judge in Trump funding case - AOL.com - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Donald Trump's 'colossal mistake' BLASTED by Obama and Bush during surprise reunion that left Bono in tears - Daily Mail - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Physician Tina Shah, who served in Obama and Biden administrations, will challenge Kean in NJ-7 - New Jersey Globe - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Michelle Obama shares the three words her dying mother said that changed her outlook on life - TheGrio - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Michelle Obama's podcast puts her in limelight in new Trump era, but she's not coming to Democrats' rescue - Fox News - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Bush and Obama fault Trumps gutting of USAID on agencys last day - MSN - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Don Jr.: "Affirmative Action" is why Obama won Nobel, not Trump - CNN - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- A former Obama speechwriter learned to surf with his Joe Rogan-loving brother-in-law. Heres what happened next. - Inquirer.com - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- The key difference between Obama and Trump on immigration - Orange County Register - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Michelle Obama shares 4 words her mom said at the end of her life that stuck with her - NPR - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Michelle Obama Discusses Parental Pain After Malia Changes Her Last Name to Push Away From Her Parents - Yahoo - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Michelle Obama Emotionally Shares Impact of 3 Words from Her Dying Mother - MSN - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Michelle Obama Reveals the Four Dying Words from Her Mother That Changed the Way She Lives Her Life - parade.com - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Michelle Obama reveals why shes rarely seen with Barack - Yahoo - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- See the photos of Barack Obama School for Social Justice graduation ceremony - Lohud - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Viral video: Michelle Obama tears up while remembering her mother, reveals her take on death | Watch - Mint - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Michelle Obama says Barack Obama divorce rumor reactions are like 'the apocalypse' - USA Today - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- This week in whoppers: Former aide's 'anti-war' Obama fantasy, Nina Turner's ignorance on Iran's abuse of women and more - New York Post - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Obama and Biden sent American taxpayers' money to Iran...: White House reveals - WION - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Trump Jr Says Obama Getting Nobel Prize Over Father Is 'Affirmative Action' - Newsweek - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Michelle Obama Gets Emotional Talking About the 3 Powerful Words Her Mom Said While Dying - People.com - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Ex-Obama aide says its insane to think Cuomo is best choice for New York mayor as it happened - The Guardian - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- We are 60: Michelle on divorce rumors, explains why she's rarely seen with Barack Obama - Times of India - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Ex-Obama aide: Insane to think Cuomo better than democratic socialist - The Hill - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Michelle Obama addresses divorce rumors and why shes rarely seen with Barack: Were 60, yall - New York Post - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Democrats are more likely than Republicans to support naming public places after Obama, Harvey Milk, and Malcolm X - YouGov - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Trump Jr. says Barack Obama getting Nobel Peace Prize over his father is affirmative action - TheGrio - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Michelle Obama addresses rumors of the end of our marriage - The Hill - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Michelle Obama reacts to divorce rumours: Were 60, yall! - The Indian Express - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Michelle Obama mocks rumors that her marriage is in trouble - Fox News - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Michelle Obama Addresses Divorce Rumors and Why Shes Rarely Seen with Husband Barack - instyle.com - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Michelle Obama addresses the Barack Obama divorce rumors with humor - HOLA - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Megyn Kelly parodies Michelle Obama as she hits out at former first lady for 'never having a positive word to say' - Daily Mail - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Michelle Obama Explains Her Rare Public Outings With Barack - The Daily Beast - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Michelle Obama says Barack Obama divorce rumor reactions are like 'the apocalypse' - MSN - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Michelle Obama reveals why shes rarely seen with Barack - The Telegraph - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Michelle Obama Just Revealed Why She's Glad She Didn't Have Boys, And Her Reason Makes Sooo Much Sense - BuzzFeed - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Michelle Obama addresses lack of public appearances with husband Barack following divorce rumors - The Independent - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Obama CBA Coalition adds the $9B Illinois quantum park to its fight for environmental and housing justice - The TRiiBE - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- Michelle Obama says a line her mom used to repeat about parenting always stuck with her - Business Insider - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- Rewind: Did Trump claim in 2011 that Obama would start war with Iran to get elected? - Snopes.com - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- Obama will start a war with Iran to win re-election: Amid US strikes on Tehran, Donald Trumps old twe - Times of India - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- Did Netanyahu coerce Trump into attacking Iran? No but he tried with Obama - The Forward - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]