In just 48 hours, Agnès Buzyn changed the whole face of the municipal campaign in Paris. Unlike Benjamin Griveaux who aligned himself with Anne Hidalgo's ecological projects, Agnès Buzyn chose to focus on the daily problems of Parisians, just like Rachida Dati.
Agnès Buzyn has been a candidate for mayor of Paris for just over 48 hours and a lot has already changed.
Imperceptibly, everything has become different. First, the atmosphere that had been heavy at Benjamin Griveaux's campaign headquarters for a month. His failed start to the campaign weighed on team morale. And then, the abysmal relations between the ex-candidate En Marche and Cédric Villani put electricity in the air. It is a thing of the past and everyone has noticed with which application Agnès Buzyn put forward her kindness, her calm and her listening skills.
But does Cédric Villani not give up?
It is true, but the words now chosen by the two camps and the gestures put forward since Sunday have a meaning. While the mathematician hated the fallen champion of macronie, he no longer misses an opportunity to say "his respect, his esteem" for Agnès Buzyn, with whom he has "cordial" exchanges. In short, everything becomes possible.
But not before the first round of municipal elections?
No, of course. However, the trench warfare in the first round may be followed by a war of movement. What draw the alliances essential to all Parisian candidates to win the town hall. We'll see. In the meantime, the change in climate brought about by the appearance of a new face in the campaign also has an impact on the other candidates. On Anne Hidalgo, for example. It is no longer she who makes the agenda for the electoral campaign. However (and this is a point which had been perfectly theorized by Nicolas Sarkozy), to win a campaign, you have to dominate the agenda and impose the themes. You have to make sure that the debate revolves around your person, your project. This was the case until now for Anne Hidalgo. Its 170,000 trees, its urban forests, its anti-car policy, all of this created controversy, of course, but it was she who decided the codes. The mayor of Paris is no longer the star since it is Agnès Buzyn, the little news, which captures the media. But, in addition, his program is no longer the benchmark.
What changed ?
The abandonment of the transfer from the Gare de l'Est and the plan to create a Central Park instead. With this shocking and completely controversial proposal, Benjamin Griveaux had sought to put himself at the level of major projects greener than green by Anne Hidalgo. He was going to challenge her on his land, adopting his own weapons. Agnes Buzyn does the opposite. She gives up all that and refocuses on daily life with subjects such as cleanliness, security, travel and accommodation. This is exactly the ground that Rachida Dati had chosen, speaking not of pharaonic projects, but of the real, day-to-day life of Parisians. That had allowed him to make a nice breakthrough in the polls. We have entered the last month of the campaign, where things will start to crystallize. Agnès Buzyn and Rachida Dati, it is perhaps they who will set the tempo.