Today we are dealing with the madness of an increasingly poll-driven political debate, the bleak situation of the SPD and the FDP, and the question of what could be done against the success of the AfD.
What helps against extreme right-wing politicians?
JENS SCHLUETER / EPA-EFE / REX
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Issue 36/2019
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After the success of the AFD in the state elections in Saxony and Brandenburg, the other parties now believe to know what would have helped in the dispute with the party.
Regrettably, these flashes of inspiration arrived with a slight delay. And unfortunately, they are so contradictory that no strategy wants to result. Here are just a few of those demands that made the rounds the day after the elections in the East :
More attention for the East. More money for the East. Generally: more policemen. More deportations. And logically: less "climate hysteria". More Germany flags. Looking for dialogue with the AfD, because useful. Fewer Germany flags. End the dialogue with the AfD once and for all, because it is useless. Nice to be diesel. Nasty to the wolf. And so on. And then there was SPD hopeful Ralf Stegner, who said that the AfD could have been pushed down by a few percentage points if the basic pension had already been introduced.
That's all very nice. But I believe that the only effective and sustainable measure would be massive investment in education . If, eight decades after Hitler's rise, large sections of society choose a party whose leadership includes racists and right-wing extremists, then something damned wrong in terms of education.
Anyway, one knows after the recent successes of the AfD: Who is far right, who is involved with right-wing extremism, which can thus win a quarter of the vote.
- The consequences of this disaster has been researched by a team of SPIEGEL editors for a major report. Here you can read it.
The Polls Lunacy
FELIPE TRUEBA / EPA-EFE / REX
What was almost overlooked in all the reports on the success of the AfD: The survey -driven policy discourse in Germany has proved in recent weeks again as a joke. Ever new surveys of ever new institutes played host to politicians, journalists and, subsequently, voters a supposedly precise knowledge of the outcome of the elections in Brandenburg and Saxony. On that basis, debates were then made, commented, and chants written on whatever possible.
Stupid is just that many of these polls turned out to be Kokolores. For example, at Forsa the SPD in Brandenburg was 17 percent a few weeks ago. On Sunday, she then got just under ten percentage points more. The prognoses for the Saxon CDU were similarly wrong.
For us journalists, this could be a reason not to use surveys as a basis for analyzes, comments or notifications, but to have their own observations and thoughts. I'm going to put some effort in it.
- The AfD has pushed back the governing parties in Saxony and Brandenburg in many places. Where that is the case and where CDU and SPD still dominate - the overview in maps.
Schäfer-Gümbel under pressure?
CLEMENS BILAN / EPA-EFE / REX
After renewed losses for the SPD now the internal pressure on party leader Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel grows. Small joke. Nothing is growing at the SPD at the moment, not even the pressure. The party has known to prevent and in time created a vacuum at the top . Thus, in exceptional cases, no party chairman is available these days, whose resignation the comrades could demand. This is so ingenious that it is a model for future elections.
Nevertheless, the party wants to try again with an official party leadership. Eight candidate duos and a lone fighter were officially admitted to the competition yesterday. Tomorrow evening, the autumn tour begins in Saarbrücken with a total of 23 gigs in social democratic chambers of the heart like Kamen, Troisdorf, Ettlingen or Bernburg an der Saale.
At some point in December, a new leadership duo could actually be found. At this time, vacuum party leader Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel will have long held another office. On October 1, he intends to serve as Labor Director at the State Corporation for International Cooperation. After all, this job is crisis-proof. And the pay could be better too.
- Eight women and nine men are candidates for the SPD presidency. That's them - and that's how they stand.
Comeback of the old FDP
DPA
Of all the losers of election Sunday, the fate of the FDP is perhaps the most desolate. Almost two years have passed since the last Bundestag election. At that time, Christian Lindner was justly celebrated for having led the Liberals back from almost nothing to the Bundestag. With a proud 10.7 percent! The FDP surrounded a start-up aura, an all-is-possible-mood. That is, you have to hold fast, thoroughly.
In that sense, the elections in the East were a turning point, or rather a comeback. Back is the old FDP whose main occupation for many years was close combat with the five percent hurdle . They have now lost him in Brandenburg and Saxony. But maybe the party's chronically clever advertising agency has a slogan that successfully reinterprets the latest bankruptcies. "Better not in the state parliament, than five in the parliament." Something like that.
- Cool - outward: FDP politician Wolfgang Kubicki writes in his memoirs about the restlessness of political operation, the friendship with Jürgen Möllemann and the women in his life.
Winners of the day ...
THE MIRROR
... are Andreas Allzeit, Henrike Berg, Julia Parker and Nina Ulrich from the Soundlab team at SPIEGEL . After a long tinkering, her project goes online today: a new digital stage that offers musicians the chance to get known with their songs - almost overnight and beyond the big streaming portals. Soundlab is curated by our expert jury and handpicked. Every two weeks, eight clips in four genres compete against each other. And you can decide which song has what it takes to hit it. Take a look at www.your-soundlab.de
The compact news overview in the morning: current and opinionated. Every morning (weekdays) at 6 o'clock. Order directly here:
The latest news from the night
- New elections in the UK? According to media reports, Prime Minister Boris Johnson threatens to take this step in mid-October - should the parliament oppose his Brexit plans.
- "The devastation is unprecedented ": Hurricane "Dorian" continues to rage across the Bahamas, several people were already killed - and the all-clear is not yet in sight.
- Devastating fire on a sightseeing boat : At least eight people have died off the coast of California. 26 people are still missing.
The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today
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I wish you a merry Tuesday!
Your Markus Feldenkirchen