The outcome of the contest between the two — France’s youngest leader since Napoleon and the three-time aspirant to become the nation’s first female President — was never a lock for either candidate. After a hard-fought first round among 12 candidates two weeks ago, the top two faced off in the runoff Sunday.
Voters simply opted, in these challenging times, for a safe middle ground rather than a firebrand far-right candidate who promised to rip up the economy and society and pivot France ever closer to Russia — all in the interest of change that the French have never truly embraced. What…
