On Wednesday night, the two finalists in the French presidential election will meet for a head to head television debate, which will be watched by almost everyone in France. A choice between plague and cholera.

This is going to be a dangerous encounter for Emmanuel Macron, and a moment of opportunity for Marine Le Pen. Her supporters are suddenly imagining they could win and have announced a deal to appoint the veteran sovereignist Nicolas Dupont-Aignan as prime minister, if she does. This remains outside of any scenario I can imagine but even as Macron leads, his legitimacy is in doubt and the more voters see, the less they like.

Macron's performance since winning his place in the second round is not inspiring confidence. He emerged from the posh La Rotonde restaurant at 2am after the first voting round where his guests included Daniel Cohn-Bendit, soixante-huitard turned pillar of the Paris bien pensant, Jacques Attali, last seen lining the European bank for reconstruction in London with Italian marble, and a gaggle of actors, singers and assorted celebs. It looked a lot like Nicolas Sarkozy's glitzy post-election party at Fouquets five years ago that was savagely criticised at the time by the French media -- although Sarko threw his bash after the second round, when he'd actually won.

Macron seems a little unhinged at the moment. He seems exposed and alone, although surrounded by his new best friends. Macron's flashes of petulance and entitlement are unattractive. He sneered as he dismissed suggestions of hubris and lectured reporters who questioned his judgment, saying they understood nothing. He claimed the evening was merely to thank his secretaries and security guards. Patently untrue.

https://youtu.be/WatAfUo2dCc

Not even the Macron boosters at all major French TV channels could keep off the air last week's Battle of Amiens in which Marine turned up at a threatened Whirlpool white goods factory and was cheered, while Macron, who'd been meeting suits at the local chamber of industry, belatedly turned up after and was booed.

https://youtu.be/5vHlOdoDDqM

If Marine was showing more poise in the new round, free of the 11-candidate circus and her message cutting through with new resonance, by the end of the week the Macron campaign was sounding desperate, accusing the National Front of having attempted to assassinate General De Gaulle, and then explaining that even though the National Front did not exist at the time, they would have done, if they had.

As the identities of Macron's sponsors continued to emerge, including elite figures of Paris finance and some on the other side of the Rhine who perhaps calculate that Macron will do as he is told by Angela Merkel (almost the same age as Brigitte Macron), the French media and political elite are in full project fear mode, warning of a disaster should Marine Le Pen prevail. They may be right, but France is already a disaster and the very politicians warning of Le Pen are those who created it.