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It is not just a guest appearance in the election campaign, not just a nice gesture among Union friends. For Mike Mohring it is "a sign" that Markus Söder visits him in Thuringia.
"Even you have had a difficult election campaign," says the CDU state chairman for CSU Prime Minister from Bavaria, who has built up on this Tuesday night in front of the microphones. "And you have emerged from it successfully and could form a middle-class government."
As a reminder: Söder CSU lost ten points in the Bavarian election last year, slipped to around 37 percent and has since been dependent on the voters as a coalition partner.
Because Mike Mohring is already at signs and difficult election campaigns, he will mention a non-present prime minister a little later: "It helps us, if it goes out well in Saxony weekend and Michael Kretschmer get the government education order."
Especially the choice in the neighboring country is of decisive importance for Thuringia.
It is the Tuesday evening in the fair in Erfurt. The CDU faction, which leads the 47-year-old Mohring next to the state party, has invited to their annual reception, which is supposed to be a demonstration of power of the CDU. Nearly 3000 people are sitting in the big hall waiting for Söder's speech. The rulers of the time, when the party Thuringia still governed by an absolute majority, Dieter Althaus and the now 86-year-old Bernhard Vogel, sit in the front row.
Almost five years ago, Bodo Ramelow, the first left-wing prime minister of the first red-red-green government, was elected here in a heartland of the Union.
Almost five years ago, the Thuringian CDU, although it remained the strongest force, had for the first time in the opposition. At that time, Mohring took over the presidency of the state party, with the one major goal: to regain power.
Martin rubble / DPA
Prime Minister Söder, CDU's top candidate Mohring
But after that it just does not look like it. In the polls, the Left is now even with 25 or 26 percent in first place, while the CDU lands at 21 and 24 percent. And: If the FDP does not make it back into the state parliament, which suggests at least one questioning, it should be enough for a coalition of left, Greens and SPD again. In this case, all three partners have committed to a continuation of the Alliance.
At the same time, and that makes the situation for the top candidate Mohring doubly tricked, his CDU must also argue in the polls with the AfD for 2nd place. The state party, which behaved particularly radically under Björn Höcke, has changed its strategy. If the "Wing" leader once wanted to form the AfD into a "resistance movement" in the fundamental opposition, he does not even exclude participation in a CDU-led government.
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This reinforces an old problem for Mohring. He can repeat so often that for him a coalition with the AfD is out of the question, yes that he would not even talk to the party: The competition still sows happy doubts - which also catch because the CDU man before the election Ramelows to the Prime Minister in the fall of 2014 had contact with Höcke.
Not even a year ago, Mohring was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer - and only a few months later, doctors declared him cured after exhausting chemotherapy. Mohring's open dealing with the disease also gave him notoriety and sympathy outside of Thuringia, his popularity values rose last.
But this helps him and his party little. Ramelow keeps him clear thanks to his official bonus - and draws with its popularity, the left, which is everywhere else in Germany badly weakens, up.
Jens Schlueter / Getty Images
Saxony's Prime Minister Kretschmer in the election campaign
But all these polls, that is the last hope of the CDU, are subject to the coming Sunday. The results in Saxony and Brandenburg could change the dynamics in Thuringia once more, especially since nobody knows whether the coalition in the federal government implodes after the CDU and SPD crash completely.
Mohring publicly relies on Kretschmer's victory. "This back, we need it," he says, "that's clear: CDU is ahead, AfD is defeated."
Internally, however, the Thuringian CDU leadership is also preparing for a triumph for the AfD. Then, it is said, the Saxon malaise could at least be used as a warning against what might happen if the CDU were not elected. So maybe even more people could be mobilized.
"Very curious how it will go out on Sunday"
However, following this logic, it applies even more to the Left and its Prime Minister. As head of a government with partners who are clearly committed to the coalition, Ramelow could parallel to a possible chaos in Dresden even more efficiently present as guardians of stability against the threat of the right wing.
In addition, Linke, SPD and Greens would interpret any discussion between the Saxon CDU and the AfD as evidence that this was the test run for Thuringia.
In addition, Ramelow hopes for a red-red-green signal from Brandenburg. If there would come to Thuringia, Berlin and Bremen to the fourth coalition of SPD, Greens and Left, this would be further evidence of the functioning of the original from Erfurt. This is not the only view of the left-wing state chancellor and chief strategist Benjamin Hoff.
"I am," says Markus Söder during his visit to Thuringia, "very curious how it will go out on Sunday." Mohring probably sees it the same way.
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