The presidential election has become, over the years, the alpha and omega of our political life. A magnifying glass effect reinforced since 2002, with the entry into force of the five-year term. Barely has a president been elected when we already focus on the next one, and everything seems to revolve around the battle for the Élysée: those who lead it, but also their supporters, their stables, and their enemies. A phenomenon which, combined with the wait for the “providential” man or woman, encouraged by the Fifth Republic, ends up giving rise to numerous vocations, far too numerous, one year before the election.
In the midst of these ego battles, however, we must build a program. This is why it is important to salute the work underway in the French parties, where we are multiplying field meetings, meetings of think tanks and citizen committees, experts and senior officials, to try to build proposals. Because we tend to forget: it is the debate of ideas which constitutes the noble part of politics.
Certainly, one might retort, few voters read the entire programs. The candidates and the staffs know, however, that the election will be decided on a key idea. The one who promises to change the lives of voters, gives the impression of taking them into account, even understanding them. The challenge will be easier for the extremes, who will want to overturn the table, than for the central bloc, who will want to preserve the great balances of our society. In any case, everyone hopes to find the right idea which will then become the most striking slogan of the campaign. They must, conversely, guard against the temptation to mistake slogans for ideas.
