Presidential campaigns offer an abundance of catch phrases, whether slogans finessed by a candidate's team to deliver maximum impact or coined spontaneously on the trail. The proclamations of presidential hopefuls bring texture to an election race and come to define a campaign – for a news cycle or forever in the history books. FRANCE 24 breaks through the language barrier to bring you the buzzwords of the 2022 French presidential race. In the spotlight: "Vote utile", the tactical (literally, "useful") vote.
The topic materialises with every French presidential vote and yet nevertheless elicits a frenzy of pearl-clutching from the offended adversaries: the vote utile, the appeal to cast a ballot tactically. The idea is a compromise: Go for a tolerable candidate with the best chance at the top prize, rather than the ideal pick in a perfect world. Better to win vaguely contented than to lose on stubborn principle in a blaze of glory.
