The position of Eric Ciotti, arpès the first round Thursday, December 2 of the LR congress, is interesting, in that it involves a form of tension. On the one hand, the results are excellent news for him: he comes out on top, although he has long been presented as not among the favorites. But on the other hand, Valérie Pécresse received the support of the other three candidates, which puts him in a delicate situation for the second round. “Today I welcome this victory that I was waiting for, that I was hoping for, affirms Eric Ciotti, after the announcement of the results. Truth and clarity in politics always triumph in the end. These values that we defended have triumphed. ” He welcomes his “Victoire”. So, of course, he comes in first but it is all the same to forget that there is a second round! Its values have “triumph” : maybe … But we must remember that it exceeds Valérie Pécresse by only a hair (Éric Ciotti and Valérie Pécresse obtained respectively 25.59% and 25% voices), which invites to relativize the term of “triumph”.
The rhetoric is relatively transparent: by presenting his good result with such emphasis, Eric Ciotti seeks to activate what is called the Bandwagon effect. It is a cognitive bias which stipulates that, in the face of uncertainty, individuals tend to join the camp which appears to them to be the most likely to win the victory. This is also why the candidates never fail to highlight the polls when they are favorable to them: it is precisely to try to activate the Bandwagon effect. And then, since everything is not necessarily rhetorical, we can also distinguish a psychological hypothesis behind the choice of this lexicon. Eric Ciotti being in a complicated situation for the second round, one can imagine that he did not resist the pleasure of claiming victory today, knowing that he is not sure of being able to do it on Saturday.
Not surprisingly, his speech was radically different. She never speaks of victory. Valérie Pécresse insists a lot on the gathering. She does not attack Eric Ciotti at any time, while he did not hesitate to reserve him a few pikes. Despite everything, there are points in common between these speeches, including this one: “I am the only one able to beat Macron by bringing together all the people of the right”, says Eric Ciotti. “I am the only one who can beat Emmanuel Macron. I know what tough fights are said Valérie Pécresse for her part. I know how to win them, I am a woman who wins and who does. ”
Valérie Pécresse would be the only one able to beat Emmanuel Macron, and Éric Ciotti would be… the only one able to beat Emmanuel Macron! We do not find here only a form of Bandwagon effect. Behind these assertions, we also distinguish arguments of political strategy. Eric Ciotti would have the position best able to bring together all the right-wing voters. As for Valérie Pécresse, she would be the most credible candidate, and the most experienced. But indeed, everyone seeks to present themselves, no longer as the future winner of the congress, but indeed as the future president or the future president of the Republic.
Trying to appear victorious in advance is therefore not just a form of political audacity. It is also a rhetorical tool, which falls under what are called self-fulfilling prophecies. Let us remember: in the coming months, Éric Ciotti and Valérie Pécresse will undoubtedly not be the only ones who will be heard proclaiming victory!