Macron stretches lead as French presidential campaign enters final day

[TomSea]

Macron stretches lead as French presidential campaign enters final day
by Reuters
Friday, 5 May 2017 06:49 GMT

* 62 pct poll score is Macron's best since before first round

* Le Pen says her goal is to win

* Separate poll puts abstention rate at a quarter of voters (adds market context, Le Pen quote)

By Mathieu Rosemain and Andrew Callus

PARIS, May 5 (Reuters) - Centrist French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron extended his lead in the polls over his far-right rival Marine Le Pen on Friday, the final day of a tumultuous election campaign that has turned the country's politics upside down.

The election is seen as the most important in France for decades with two diametrically opposed views of Europe and France's place in the world at stake.

The National Front's Le Pen would close borders and quit the euro currency, while independent Macron, who has never held elected office, wants closer European cooperation and an open economy. The candidates of France's two mainstream parties were both eliminated in the first round on April 23.

Continued: http://news.trust.org/item/20170505053834-t4b4o

[TomSea]

If she's losing by this much, it shows she probably has too much ground to win back if the election is this weekend.

In that vote of a few weeks ago, she was at 24%, Fillon who is a bit like her, had only 19% but they said Fillon could win the election.

It's not looking good for Le Pen.  She losing by about 24 points.  If she is to win, one would have to discount the poll as being totally wrong. Maybe.

In other words, if this poll is correct, she is going to take a thumping. Some of her ideas appeal but some of the others obviously are not popular.

[EC]

She's down by more than I estimated. I figured she is going to lose by about 9 - 10 points. 

[geronl]

both are far to the left of me

France isn't going to improve

[TomSea]

She's down by more than I estimated. I figured she is going to lose by about 9 - 10 points. 

It almost looks like a poll to scare voters into staying home. There was a poll about 10 days ago that showed her with a good lead, not gigantic but not tiny either.

[EC]

There is that - a 25% abstention rate is on the high side of normal for second round voting.

[geronl]

Crazy rhetoric works better in the primaries I guess