Le Pen has not lost yet. French voters should unite against her

PUNDITS are already looking beyond the French presidential run-off that will take place on May 7th. Emmanuel Macron, the young liberal favourite, is 20 points ahead in the polls. Talk has turned to the obstacles he might face in office. The party he founded, En Marche! (“On the Move!”), will probably not win a majority in the legislature. How, they ask, will he handle the delicate task of coalition-building in a country where old certainties are going up in flames like rum on a ?Steady on. Mr Macron has not won yet. And if voters take it for granted that he will, he might not. Betting on politics is banned in France, but foreign bookmakers give his populist, nationalist opponent, Marine Le Pen, a one-in-six chance of victory—the same odds as Russian roulette. The reason is that Ms Le Pen’s supporters will all turn out in force, so if the other side is apathetic and abstains in large numbers, she could win. French people cannot afford to be complacent about this election, or indifferent to the choices on offer (see ).