When the writers of France's satirical nightly news show, les Guignols de l'Info, want to evoke one of the greatest fears of mainstream French politicians, they introduce the marionette that depicts Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the National Front party. Le Pen simply stands immobile, with a bulldog scowl fixed on his face. "What are you doing?" the show's exasperated host asks the veteran politician of the far right. "Nothing," comes the growled answer. "I'm just waiting."
That approach has long served the 78-year-old Le Pen well and it could work again. Five years ago in his...