France's far-right reaches across spectrum as runoff looms
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}French centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron thumbs up as he addresses his supporters at his election day headquarters in Paris , Sunday April 23, 2017. Macron and far-right populist Marine Le Pen advanced Sunday to a runoff in France's presidential election, remaking the country's political system and setting up a showdown over its participation in the European Union. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena) (The Associated Press)
France's far right is reaching out to voters who backed the defeated far-left contender, hoping to peel away voters from the extremes of the political spectrum.
The May 7 runoff will be between the populist Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron, and French politicians on the moderate left and right immediately urged voters to block Le Pen's path to power. The defeated far-left candidate, Jean-Luc Melenchon, pointedly refused to do the same.
Le Pen offers an alternative for anyone skeptical of the European Union and France's role in it, said Louis Aliot, the vice president of the National Front party.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He spoke Monday to RTL radio after the earthshaking vote that saw France's mainstream political parties shut out of the presidency for the first time in modern history.