From the first words of Marine Le Pen, the supporters of Emmanuel Macron gathered in a cafe in downtown Toulouse wince: “She, fraternity…”, comments with a touch of irony Marie-Claire, an activist, when the candidate talks about her values. In the cozy atmosphere of the back room of the bistro, the ten people who braved the rain to come and see the two presidential challengers compete on a television set during the debate, listen studiously.
From time to time, the arguments of the representative of the National Rally are punctuated by “it’s wrong” or “it’s already done”. A few laughs burst out when Emmanuel Macron tackles his opponent or tries to catch him out on the financing of his program. “He has a perfect attitude,” said a retiree, who had not appreciated the aggressiveness of the previous face-to-face.
This time, the tone is more calm, less removed between the two candidates. The context has also changed in five years for supporters of Emmanuel Macron who is now accountable for his record as outgoing president. “In 2017, we wanted to break everything, there were dreams, we were talking about the society of tomorrow. Since then, there has been the Covid crisis, the war in Ukraine, we need stability, to feel protected and he has the experience, that’s good, ”explains Jonnhy Dunal, a municipal elected official from the Pink City.
Trader by profession, the latter welcomes the responses of the outgoing President on the management of the Covid crisis, the aid provided to hold on while waiting for the recovery. Always one eye riveted on social networks, he regrets that his friends from the Republicans consider Emmanuel Macron “arrogant”. “She is sarcastic,” he retorts.
Emmanuel Macron “brilliant”
And all are wondering in chorus to find out “how would she have done during the Covid crisis”. For a 50-year-old, “it’s reason on one side, irrationality on the other”. But they also find that she has improved a little. “She is less bad than in 2017, but she still does not master her subjects, nor her figures”, slice Marie-Claire. She regrets that the subjects of society and security, which are more divisive, only arrived at the end of the evening. “There are some who have not watched to the end, I am not sure that the debate has highlighted the dangers that there may be on our values, we did not see who she really was . She seems incompetent but not dangerous, ”she laments, fearing that people would rather go on vacation than slip their ballot into the ballot box.
Terrorism, radical Islamism finally comes at the very end of the debate. “Clearly, on what she says about the veil, we see that it would be a total failure, impossible to apply”, assures Elodie Hobet, in charge of the digital campaign for LREM in Haute-Garonne. On the other hand, she found her candidate “brilliant and convincing”. “She had the objective of destabilizing him, she did not succeed”, she welcomes. If the vote of this audience was already acquired, this debate has finished driving the point home. “It’s not Marine Le Pen’s personality that’s the problem, it’s her ideas. And then when you want to manage a country, that implies that you master the numbers and the terms, it can’t be done with a cookie cutter,” concludes Yannick.