Macron still leads a tightening presidential race

“I WANT IT to be less like a rally,” declares Emmanuel Macron in an electoral clip, as he strolls around the empty indoor arena west of Paris in an overcoat and scarf, scouting out the venue: “I want something more like a sporting event.” On April 2nd, a mere eight days before the first round of voting in France’s two-round presidential election, the sitting president will finally hold his first election rally. He might need to take his gloves off at last. He is still the firm favourite. But the race is tightening in the final stretch. And a narrow second-round victory could spell trouble for a second-term president later on.