French Election Proves Politics As Usual Aren’t Dead Yet

Heather Hurlburt wrote for the New York Magazine about the French election results:

France’s first-round election results on Sunday were a welcome non-surprise: Right-wing nationalist and Putin pal Marine Le Pen did make the second round, but behind political novice but familiar center-left face Emmanuel Macron, whom she’ll face in a May runoff. Even better, their other competitors from France’s established center-left and center-right parties came out quickly to endorse Macron. The best news of the day, though, is that political observers of a liberal, non-nationalist bent can comfortably retain their basic understandings about how France, elections, and 21st-century democracy all work. They can also, at least temporarily, shelve some fundamental doubts about the state of the political process in the western world.