The left in France must vote against Le Pen – but Macron isn’t making it easy | Philippe Marlière

Wednesday's TV debate was a chance for the president to attack his far-right opponent's policies. Instead, he normalised them

President Emmanuel Macron faced Marine Le Pen, his far-right challenger, in a televised debate on Wednesday ahead of Sunday's crucial runoff vote. The media agreed that Macron had largely dominated the exchanges. Viewers interviewed by pollsters agreed that Macron had been more convincing, more dynamic and more sincere.

Yet following the debate, Liberation declared on its front page that Le Pen was still not up to par". This was an astonishing headline on the part of a centre-left newspaper. Does it mean that had Le Pen had better oratory skills and a better grasp of policy details, she would be worthy of becoming president? Meanwhile, most of the commentary about the debate failed to point out that Le Pen is a far-right candidate who has extreme views on immigration, Islam, civil liberties, the EU and Putin's Russia. This shows that the normalisation of Le Pen's far right movement is at an advanced stage.

Philippe Marliere is professor of French and European politics at University College London