Wow!
What were Macron and his advisers thinking when they called this election...
Well, first of all, I am not sure his advisors were thinking. Macron was thinking his thoughts. But were his advisors really telling him to do this? If not, they should not be blamed for the thinking.
It seems like the only possible way it could be "going according to plan" is if the plan was intentionally to lose because Macron thinks that the best thing (or at any rate the least bad thing of things that are achievable) is for the RN to win and be forced to govern, with the idea that them being in government (with Macron still there to make sure things don't go too far off the rails) will lower their popularity subsequently.
That's obviously a very risky scheme, even if that was actually the plan in the first place.
If that was not the plan, then it isn't going according to plan.
