French President Emmanuel Macron has handed his far-right rival Marine Le Pen her best shot yet to cement a position in the center of French politics, but she’s struggling to take advantage.
Le Pen’s advisers identified the wave of anger unleashed by Macron’s pension reform as a moment when the 54-year-old could consolidate a reputation as a serious alternative to the president’s technocratic elitism.
They drafted plans to showcase her party’s ideas on policy in the National Assembly and reassure leftwing voters who could hold the key to another presidential bid. But the old problems that have dogged her career won’t go away.