The French may be naturally prone to pessimism, but the election of Emmanuel Macron as president a year ago ushered in a certain giddiness about the future. While you wouldn’t know it from the frenzy around France’s bid to win the World Cup, that wave of optimism has given way to a more familiar pathos and a sense that yet another French president is enjoying the trappings of office a little too much.
The question for Macron is whether he can get voters to suspend their disbelief long enough for his program to deliver results.
According to the pollster Ipsos, 70 percent