I was happy to see Emmanuel Macron solidly defeat Marine LePen in yesterday’s French elections. What is most interesting about his victory is that he started his movement En Marche! only last year. The received wisdom in the United States is that it is impossible to get past the two party system. If someone wants to become President, they have to run either as a Democrat or a Republican. I am not sure this is true anymore and arguably Trump, while running as a Republican, did so – at least initially – against the support of the party.
With the rise of social media a lot has changed. It has become possible for a candidate to take their message directly to the people. And if that message resonates with enough people it will also be covered by the existing traditional media channels. Trump demonstrated that amply here in the United States. He did it by going to extremes which allowed him to move especially fast. Someone with a less extreme message would have to build for longer but once they gain traction they will be covered.
So for the 2020 election I would love to see a truly forward looking candidate who does not tie their fate to one of the existing parties but rather establishes a movement of their own, as Macron did. They may not succeed on the first go around but the opportunity for innovating politically outside of the two existing parties has never seemed stronger to me.
