Macron, Le Pen Expected to Advance to French Presidential Runoff

By Frank Langfitt, NPR

23 April 17

mmanuel Macron, a centrist politician who's never held elective office, and Marine Le Pen, the far-right, firebrand who wants to take France out of the European Union, are expected to advance to next month's run-off for the presidency of the country, according to projections based on early vote counts.

Macron was estimated to have won 23.7 percent of the vote with Le Pen taking about 21.7 percent. Francois Fillon, the only establishment candidate among the front-runners, appeared tied for third place with left-wing politician Jean-Luc Melenchon with about 19.5 percent of the vote each.

If the projections hold up, which are traditionally seen as reliable, it will set up a battle in May between two politicians with not only completely different visions for France but – more significantly – utterly different views of one of the biggest issues facing many voters in the West today: globalization.

Macron is a liberal, former investment banker and an avowed internationalist who worked as economic minister in France's Socialist government. Le Pen has run a tough, anti-immigrant campaign and has vowed to take France out of the European Union. The United Kingdom is already in the process of pulling out of the 28-national trading bloc. Were France to also head for the door, most analysts think it would kill an institution that helped keep the peace and bind Europe together for decades.

Many analysts here say that because of her far-right policies, Le Pen cannot beat Macron in a head-to-head, national race. She now appears headed for an opportunity to prove the pundits wrong in two weeks when the two compete in the run-off.