“No, there is no need for justification, because I speak about it myself very openly during each of my meetings with the French. Moreover, out of the 35 public meetings that I have already held, I had almost no questions on this topic. ” As since the start of his campaign, Xavier Bertrand is launched in a seduction operation, Wednesday, November 10, in the municipal hall of Saint-Nicolas de Compiègne (Oise). The candidate for the LR nomination for the presidential election crisscrosses the country with a single objective: to convince the militants that he is indeed part of the Republican family and that it has never ceased to be the case, despite his withdrawal from the party in 2017.
“The only question I ask myself at the end of the meeting is, are they convinced or not? Well, when I see all those who want their party cards, and those who are ready to vote for me, I tell myself that I don’t do my job too badly “, asserts the president of the Hauts-de-France region. Xavier Bertrand therefore multiplies the public meetings with, each time, the same method and the same rhetoric. Before detailing the three central themes of its program: “the restoration of authority, the return of the value of work and the advent of a Republic of territories to liberate France”.
The candidate systematically embarks on a long monologue to justify that he has been a right-wing activist from an early age who has always believed in his political family. “I’m going to tell you about my program but, first, I’m going to tell you about my career. I joined the RPR at 16 and I signed up for Jacques Chirac”, he thus launches in front of some 200 LR activists and sympathizers, gathered in a well-filled room of one of its main strongholds in the North.
Faced with criticism from LR activists who accuse him of having let go of the party in the midst of a storm, a few months after the victory of Emmanuel Macron, Xavier Bertrand assumes loud and clear his choice of the time. “Yes, I left the Republicans in 2017 because I did not accept that some members of my party did not call to block the National Assembly during the second round of the presidential election. But I did not create my party not to compete with my political family and I have never betrayed him by joining the shores of macronia as others have done “, he argues. “I know where I come from and where I live”, assures the one who has just taken back his card within the right-wing party to be able to participate in the internal ballot which will take place from December 1 to 4, within the framework of a congress.
Well helped by the mayor of Compiègne, Philippe Marini, who called on the inhabitants present Wednesday to “massively join the party to save Xavier”, the former minister of Nicolas Sarkozy presents himself as “the only candidate” able to beat Emmanuel Macron in the second round, and therefore as the only one on the right who can “save his political family” by being elected President of the Republic in 2022. “What is at stake with this election is the survival of the Republicans”, affirms Xavier Bertrand to his audience.
“We are at a crossroads, because if the right loses this election again, it will not recover. If we waste away, who will speak of the greatness of France, of authority, of work?”
Xavier Bertrandduring a public meeting in front of LR activists in Compiègne
The former minister adds by raising his voice and his arms “On the one hand, there are the vultures represented by the extremes. And on the other, Emmanuel Macron, the gravedigger, who understood that his only chance of victory is to find himself facing extremes in the second round . We will have to fight, and with our heads held high! “
Emmanuel Macron, Xavier Bertrand is still inspired a little by staying up for two good hours, and without note, as the Head of State had taken the habit of doing during the “great national debate” in 2018 , during the “yellow vests” crisis. He then leaves the floor to the supporters present in the room. The exchanges are frank. Pensions, low wages, unemployment, “those damn wind turbines “, in the candidate’s own words, or “small abandoned rural communities”... Dozens of concerns of the inhabitants of the Oise are reviewed. Xavier Bertrand responds tit for tat and seems to convince the speakers. “You will have my voice!”, launches the mayor of a small village in the department.
But some remain unsatisfied and doubt the candidate’s sincerity. “He is a very good regional president and he would undoubtedly make a very good President of the Republic, but what I reproach him for is having left our political family in 2017. I am happy that there is has returned, but I hope he will not decide to return his jacket again if he were to enter the Elysee Palace “, tackle Colette, an LR activist from the Oise federation. “It’s a real risk”, she judges.
Same story with another group of supporters who have not yet made their choice between Xavier Bertrand and Valérie Pécresse for the internal vote in early December. “A woman, that would be good anyway! And then at least she never wanted to go it alone and deprive herself of the primaries”, they launch almost in chorus.
To defend and support the sincerity of his political affiliation, Xavier Bertrand can still count on activists who “have always supported him”, like Nathalie or Georges Albin. “It’s being smart to come back to the fold”, estimates the latter. Several local tenors, such as LR deputy for Oise Pierre Vatin, are also responsible for providing after-sales service. “He left the party, and has since returned, not for ideological issues but for operational issues. His opinions have never changed. He’s still a right-wing man who thinks right-wing ideas are right. the best for the France of tomorrow “, assures the parliamentarian, under the eyes of several members of the candidate’s campaign team on the lookout.
This enterprise of seduction of the militant base of the party, Xavier Bertrand intends to continue to lead it throughout the country until the results of the internal vote on December 4. “It is true that he is perhaps a little behind his direct opponents in the Republicans on this point. But knowing his determination and his persuasiveness, we know that he is going to do it. take to the hearts of activists “, assures his entourage.