France election 2012: Rise of Le Red Devil Jean-Luc Mélenchon Around 20,000 turned out to another in Lille this week. Political analyst Alain Duhamel sarcastically called him "our great national poet" today, pointing out that he never misses a chance to cite Victor Hugo. Master of the put down, he has dismissed Hollande as a "peddle boat captain heading into a storm" but saves his most virulent diatribes for Miss Le Pen, whom he has branded "half-demented." Now both Hollande and Le Pen are starting to worry he is playing into the hands of one man: Nicolas Sarkozy, whose wooing of the FN electorate and emphasis on security, protectionism and immigration is bearing fruit. Sarkozy has cynically dispatched his aides to praise Mélenchon's "talent" in the hope of further boosting his score. Hit by a pincer movement between Sarkozy and Mélenchon, Le Pen warned supporters this week: "Mélenchon started the campaign as Hollande's broom wagon, today he's Sarkozy's best ally." Buoyed by his rising popularity, Mélenchon is going for broke, saying today: "My intention is to overtake François Hollande." Hollande has placidly urged Left-wing voters not to forget the shocking lessons of 2002, when a split vote for a host of leftist candidates saw Socialist Lionel Jospin knocked out by far-Right veteran Jean-Marie Le Pen. One result of the Mélenchon rise was Hollande's surprise pledge to slap a 75 per cent tax on annual earnings above a million euros. The Socialists argue that he has done them a favour by increasing the combined forecast Left-vote for round one to between 40-44 per cent, well above the 35 per cent it managed in the first round of 2007. But the Right hope that a high score in round one will force Hollande to make concessions to the hard-Left that could scare off the crucial centrist vote in the final run-off - handing Mr Sarkozy victory. For now, Hollande intends to plough ahead with his no frills, low-adrenalin campaign. Responding to some in his party who are urging him to lay into Mélenchon or change tactic, he told Le Monde today: "I prefer to win a presidential election with a little less enthusiasm than to lose it with a lot more fervour."