What do Macron and Obama have in common?

[malaise]

[rogue emissary]

1. Listening to Marcon's victory speech it strikes me as very supportive of multiculturalism.

He also came out strongly in defending minorities against any form of discrimination. They are also one of the youngest elected in their perspective countries.

[malaise]

2. Much more than that

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/04/france-election-macron-obama/523872/
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PARIS—When French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron stepped on stage at the AccorHotels Arena Monday afternoon for his final major rally before the first round of voting, 20,000 people filled the stands, and many others watched on screens outside. “Do you hear the murmur of spring? It’s the sound of a page of political life turning, that you are turning,” he said. “Do you know what will happen next week? On Sunday, we will win, and it will be the beginning of a new France!”

That Macron can draw a thousands-strong crowd is stunning: A year ago, Macron had no party, no operation, and was still serving as economy minister under President François Hollande. Today, with a quarter of a million members in his En Marche (“On the Move”) movement, he has cemented his status as a frontrunner in the French election—and if the polls are correct, he is the likeliest next president of France.

The 39-year-old candidate has managed to do something that, at least in France and certainly in the United States, is next to impossible: He has created a political movement of his own, one with a real chance at victory, and all in just over a year.

The political headwinds of 2017 have helped Macron along: Casting himself as an outsider in a season of extreme anti-establishment animus has bolstered his case, and he’s benefited from center-right candidate François Fillon’s scandals and the shrinking support for Socialist candidate Benoît Hamon. Macron bills himself as a centrist candidate who can combat the populist appeal of the far-right National Front’s Marine Le Pen.

But if Macron advances to the second round of the French presidential election, it will be in large part because of the unprecedented operation of supporters and campaign volunteers he’s built, using U.S.-style mobilization techniques that, in some ways, mirror the organizational style of Barack Obama’s campaigns. Today, En Marche has more than 3,900 local volunteer committees and hundreds of small events each day across the country.