From Far Right, Squeezing Into the Middle

International Herald Tribune Saturday 14th January, 2012

PARIS - With just 100 days to go before presidential elections, the populist, anti-euro message of Marine Le Pen, the leader of the National Front, appears to be gaining resonance here.

That message coincides with a mounting anxiety over the costs to France of Europe's scramble to rescue the single currency amid an ever-darkening outlook for economic growth.

In opinion polls published this week, Ms Le Pen, the expected candidate of the far right, trailed President Nicolas Sarkozy by only the slimmest of margins, a development that the candidate on Friday hailed as evidence of a growing distrust among the French of mainstream politicians.

"We see potential for progress that is not negligible," said Ms Le Pen, noting that the result was "historically high" for the party founded by her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who famously made it to the final runoff against Jacques Chirac in 2002 by capturing a mere 17.5 percent of the first-round vote.

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