“Macron is obsessed with the legacy he will leave“: this sentence comes from an important macronist executive in the Assembly. Emmanuel Macron himself does not really hide it: his models are De Gaulle or Mitterrand, presidents who marked their time. It is in this filiation that he sees his commitment.
Hence these sometimes delicate subjects that he does not let go: between the reform of unemployment insurance in progress, that of pensions which will arrive on the carpet or even the question of the end of life, the Head of State wants reforms and displays a certain obsession with the bill left to future generations, such as financial and ecological debts. Even if on these two points, its detractors believe that the results are far from living up to the promises.
What is the image that Emmanuel would like to leave? One of these faithful traveling companions explains it thus: “He is obsessed with impotence. It was cooled by the Dutch five-year term and its disintegration.“But macronism is also the promise to block extremes. And on this point too, Emmanuel Macron is not always in line with his ambitions. Monday, September 13, in front of the press, the Head of State said to himself “determined to prevent people from going to extremes.“
He had already said it in May 2017, on the evening of his election and affirmed that the French would soon have “no more reason to vote for the extremes”. Balance sheet, five years later, Marine Le Pen is 41% in the presidential election and the National Rally has 89 deputies. There is like a double discourse in Emmanuel Macron who has always known how to play politically with the extremes to win votes, while fearing to give way to them one day.
This is what some in macronie call the “Obama risk”: a young, reforming president, who serves two terms, but who does not manage to take the whole country on board with him. And whose successor is a populist. “Macron must not be the French Obama” is an expression that has come up lately in the mouths of several deputies, but that Emmanuel Macron would never have used himself, according to his entourage.
The fact remains that this highlights the feverishness of the moment within the executive and the fear of many of not succeeding in this second five-year term… and of leaving a shadowy trace in history.