A fully heated room, a DJ set, a musical show, speeches by Rachida Dati and Gérard Larcher… For her last meeting before the second round of the regional elections, Valérie Pécresse saw the big picture. The entourage of the outgoing president of Ile-de-France, favorite after having come close to 36% of the vote in the first round, can assure that it is too early to discuss the presidential election, her regional campaign revives its hopes to weigh in 2022.
In the Cirque d’Hiver Bouglione in Paris, where 800 people came this Thursday evening to attend this “meeting for the Republic”, the speeches also largely focused on sovereign themes, such as terrorism or security, skills outside the region.
A duel set up against “a left which has lost its republican compass”
Themes which also allow to accentuate the duel with the list led by the ecologist Julien Bayou, united with the socialist Audrey Pulvar and the rebellious Clémentine Autain. “How many times have we been told that the right is dead?” Tonight I see that once again we have proven the contrary, ”smiles the mayor of the 7th arrondissement in Paris, Rachida Dati before destroying“ the left of dirt, anarchy and chaos ”.
“Two social projects clash on Sunday,” says Valérie Pécresse, in the circus arena. “Mine, that of a free, Gaullist woman, facing that of a left allied with the extreme left which has lost its republican compass. Their Republic is on its knees and in ruins, my Republic is standing, united, and proud ”.
For his support Robin Réda, “a victory of Valérie Pécresse against this baroque alliance perhaps foreshadows the match that we will have in 2022”. “A duel between the real republicans, and those who bet on the partition of the Republic”, summarizes the deputy of Essonne and vice-president of Libres, the movement that Pécresse created in 2017, before leaving Les Républicains in 2019 .
Supported by Valls and Dupont-Aignan
It is moreover the rejection of this list of left union which aroused support “sometimes unexpected”, underlines Valérie Pécresse in the arena of the circus. This Thursday, the socialists Manuel Valls and Jean-Paul Huchon, the former president of the region, called to vote for her. The outgoing president also garnered the support of Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, boss of Debout la France. His relatives want to see his ability to bring together, an asset for the presidential election. “It is supported by a very broad spectrum, from the center left to the supporters of great regal firmness, thanks to its republican values. It will reshuffle the cards compared to 2022, ”assures Eric Pauget, member of the Alpes-Maritimes and vice-president of Libres.
Another good news that fell this Thursday, an OpinionWay poll for CNews which gives it victorious Sunday with more than ten points ahead of the left-wing union list, with 43% of the voting intentions. “It would be a very big performance, because this region is traditionally on the left”, boasts Eric Pauget, estimating that the scores of Xavier Bertrand and Laurent Wauquiez at the first are not more impressive. “She will have shown that she is capable of asserting herself at the same level as the tenors of the right”, he continues, convinced that “our country is ready to elect a woman president”.
“Many have rediscovered it on the right”
The former minister of Nicolas Sarkozy is playing big, since she has, like Xavier Bertrand, promised that in case of defeat at the regional, she would stop politics. But unlike her former comrade at the UMP, she chose to procrastinate before clarifying her presidential ambitions, even if the socialist Audrey Pulvar accused her in a meeting on Thursday of using this ballot as “a stepping stone”.
The road to 2022 is still long, while the right will choose its champion at the start of the school year. “This regional campaign has given it visibility and stature beyond Ile-de-France,” says Robin Réda. “Many have rediscovered her on the right, perhaps they did not measure her determination”, boasts a relative. A significant advantage since the polls give it less well rated than Xavier Bertrand for the presidential election.