Double the salaries of teachers. Qualify
“Crime against humanity” the non-lifting of patents on vaccines. Block private money transfers to force some states to accept returns from their nationals who are staying illegally in France … So many shocking proposals which, in particular for those who are struggling to take off in the polls, have enabled candidates and candidates in the presidential election to talk about their campaign. And when it is not a declaration, it is sometimes a spontaneous gesture, like the middle finger of Eric Zemmour this weekend in Marseille.
For the polemicist, this episode – which he described as “very inelegant” – risk of leaving traces. But isn’t this what the candidates are looking for through their brilliance? Anne Hidalgo has ensured several days of coverage of her candidacy announcement with her exit on the teachers. Fabien Roussel has received several media invitations to comment on his patent proposal. As for Arnaud Montebourg, he has long remained entangled in the controversy but has “benefited from a real leap in notoriety”, says one of his relatives in The world.
Towards a presidential wrestling match
Making shock trips to exist in a campaign, the strategy is not new. But the scattering of oppositions after the election of Emmanuel Macron may have contributed to the emergence, behind him, only of “small candidates” and “small candidates”, more particularly on the left. In this fragmented landscape, it is even more complicated to exist, unlike a time when a large right-wing party and a large left-wing party structured the debates.
Florian Silnicki, communications advisor at La French Com, is not going all the way: we are heading straight for a campaign that will look like a big wrestling match. “As in wrestling, the story is carefully staged in politics. Like wrestlers, politicians have to build a character and his position on the chessboard. The rivalries between them are as simulated as they are exaggerated to punctuate the electoral story. But how did we come to this?
Decreased attention
The consequence of a world where everyone’s attention is now so solicited that it becomes very weak. “The essential thing for politicians is to succeed in capturing attention, so you have to strike people and say more in less time. This often leads to more emotional speeches, ”analyzes the communications advisor. And according to Florian Silnicki, it works very well: “Clashes are popular because they seem very natural and suggest that they reveal something authentic, whereas it is more than ever a staging. “Be careful, however, at the risk of” tiring voters ever more “, warns Paul Brounais, of the Deux-Quatre agency.
Appealing to emotion more than to reason would therefore pay off. Politicians do not necessarily hide it. Ian Brossat, campaign director of Fabien Roussel, assumes the strategy of the candidate: “Fabien speaks cash, he says things very clearly, very clearly, without detour. That’s a quality ! “And the elected Parisian to add:” It is his temperament, he does not force himself, he is frank and sincere. “
A quiet countryside pledge of seriousness?
Since the controversy created by his very right-wing proposal to block private money transfers to certain states, Arnaud Montebourg has been criticized from all sides. This did not prevent him from returning to the campaign – even if he hesitated. Some of his relatives even considered that the episode was not totally negative: “Before the controversy, there are people who did not even know he was a candidate,” said a relative in The world. Does this mean that everything is allowed to exist in the media?
Florian Silnicki is more nuanced: “It’s true in the short term. But this is wrong in the medium and long term. Especially since the anecdiotization of political life means that a label can quickly stick to you to the detriment of the character you are building. It is a question of not losing the credibility and the height of view that the voters expect from a possible president or a possible president. “Donald Trump won by chaining the blows, but France is not the United States”, thinks Paul Brounais.
This is what Yannick Jadot’s campaign claims to be betting on. “The French want seriousness and we assume it. We don’t want to run a random campaign by running behind Zemmour. It’s not just the news channels! There is the regional daily press too, that’s what the French read, ”explains a close advisor to the green candidate. According to him, Yannick Jadot’s proposal to ban hunting during holidays and weekends is proof that we can print without clashing. And it doesn’t matter if the polls are stable and if some in the campaign team want to see Yannick Jadot come out of his comfort zone. To see if the blood will remain as cold as the deadline for the first round approaches.