They had a bit of a hangover, the LREM activists, especially the younger ones, on this Sunday morning at the end of the “summer campus of the majority” held in Avignon (Vaucluse), to launch the 2022 presidential election campaign The fault of the evening of the day before, and the scores of the majority in the municipal, regional and departmental elections, which had left the militants groggy. Here they are cheered up by the intoxication of the meetings, the speeches of the executives and the meetings of this strong moment in which nearly 4,500 people participated. “We do ourselves good. It lifts morale, ”says Guillaume Auffret, thirty-something Breton, municipal councilor in Vannes (Morbihan).

Enough to gain strength before setting off on a “great march” in the countryside. But on what themes? There are, of course, those, “essential”, which are essential. “Security, immigration, themes carried loud and clear by our adversaries,” includes Julien Grignon, 39, from Puy-de-Dôme. “Identity,” adds Lou Gorde, 22, a political communication student in Paris, a member of the JAM (Youth with Macron). In the discussions of the militants and the speeches of the executives of the movement, the media and political emergence of the columnist Eric Zemmour is palpable. However, we avoid his name and are content with allusions to his themes, with the idea of ​​not being subjected.

“Don’t let our themes dictate”

“But we are not going to let our themes dictate,” she continues. “There are still things to do. For students, animals, LGBT people ”, lists the young activist seduced in 2017 by the concept of“ the radicality of nuance ”(such as the stopping of heat engines, but in 2035), a sort of variation of“ at the same time ”. time ”of 2017.

Marianne, another thirty-something but a place in Nièvre, puts forward several themes to be debated. “The end of life”, “the legalization of cannabis”, propose in particular this activist of Territories and progress, the left wing of the movement. “If we had to structure ourselves with Territories and Progress, it is because we did not have our account”, she concedes while defending the balance sheet and certain social measures, such as the duplication of classes in the priority education. However, she does not forget the pension reform, still on the menu and another promise of 2017 to which Marianne still keeps: institutional reform, with more proportion and a decrease in the number of parliamentarians. Reform on which all activists do not agree.

“You can’t give sticks without giving carrots”

“We can not give stick without giving carrots”, summarizes Pierre Langeron-Saez, 26, activist from the start and unsuccessful candidate for departmental in Puy-de-Dôme. And take as an example the proposal of increase in the price of fuel issued by Sandrine Rousseau (EELV). ” After all why not. But we must first promote public transport “, adds the young man, focused on ecology for whom it is also necessary to continue and accelerate” the energy renovation of public buildings and social housing “.

For the rest, the militant base attends the synthesis of the workshops held during this summer campus and the results of the “big march” restore proposals which nourish the program. Who will wear it? “Already, we must have a candidate,” smiles Julien Genty, 24, a banker from Yvelines. “Whatever it is, we will be behind”. But no one here doubts that it will be behind Emmanuel Macron.