Meanwhile, Macron has reached out to win the endorsement of left-wing leaders. He has also stepped away from a proposal to raise the retirement age that was very unpopular on the left. And he has stepped up criticism of Le Pen as a threat to Europe in a time of crisis, given her historic Euroscepticism, closeness to Putin and proposals to pull France out of NATO’s command structure.

These steps presage what Biden and the Democratic Party are likely to have to do in the months leading up to November. Proposals to help offset inflation are already front of mind as in this week’s announcement of rules permitting higher ethanol content in gasoline (which will help lower prices). Expect more steps like that. Similarly, while the recent confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court is expected to shore up support among Black voters, more steps will be necessary given the failure to pass voting rights reforms. Another step that Pramila Jayapal, the head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, has recommended is cancellation of student debt, which she calls a “racial justice issue”—a single step she estimates would raise the wealth of Black families in America by 40 percent

Biden is also expected to turn up the heat on GOP leaders and rank-and-file members who have been supportive of Vladimir Putin and weak in their support for NATO, much as Macron has done with Le Pen.