May 7, 2017
Heather Hurlburt wrote for New York magazine about why Macron's victory does not necessarily sound the death knell for right-wing populism in France:
In this respect, [Macron's] situation may be more like Donald Trump’s than Obama’s. It may be a bit extreme to suggest that such a coalition will be as fraught, and as unproductive, as the coalition of mainstream GOP, Freedom Caucus, and Trumpistas that are currently ruling the roost in Washington. But the potential parallels ought to make Macron fans sober up fast Monday morning.
Regardless, the National Front is not going away, and neither are the issues that fueled its rise. While Macron and his lieutenants must try to define and build their political party even as they set the agenda for governing France, Marine Le Pen’s party has its platform, its legislative candidates, its infrastructure … and a steady trend of rising votes at every level in France. At 10 percent, unemployment is twice as high as in Germany, the Netherlands, or the U.K. Seething racial resentments and terror networks nurtured in French prisons defy easy solutions. And Le Pen’s Gaullist nostalgia hit home in France’s smaller towns and cities, left behind as globalization spurred growth only in major centers.