76 per cent for Saskia Esken, almost 90 per cent for Norbert Walter-Borjans - the party congress has voted the victorious duo with more than decent results to the head of the SPD.
How did they sell themselves to the delegates during their performances? Where are the Social Democrats heading under their leadership?
The message
Unlike many former SPD chairwoman Esken did not even try to philosophize. Instead, she emerged as a woman with one main goal: to lead the party back to its roots. Her straightforward speech was marked by red classics of labor market and social policy, every now and then she sounded as if she wanted to abolish Hubertus Heil his ministry.
She used much of her performance to distinguish herself from Gerhard Schröder's reform policy. Esken campaigned to overcome Hartz IV and promised to give her all "heart and soul" for "drying up the low pay sector" that the SPD itself had created. "It's time for us to turn back," she shouted under the applause of the delegates, campaigning for "clear edge, a clear course and clear language".
For all her longing to change her mind, she clearly made an effort not to give the impression that she wanted to turn the entire party on its head. That is probably also why she thanked the non-existent ex-party leader Andrea Nahles for everything she has "given in recent decades" of the SPD. That was well received.
Walter Borjans, actually the more prominent of the two, had a harder time than Esken. That may have been because he tried right at the beginning of his speech in a field that is not one of his areas of specialization: international politics. Walter Borjans sounded like a little Martin Schulz at times, like when he was campaigning for the salvation of Europe, criticizing the "madness of armament" and reminding him of Willy Brandt's peace-political heritage.
Michele Tantussi / Getty Images
Norbert Walter-Borjans
That was not all wrong and there was a lot of applause, but at the core it was a speech that many other Social Democrats could have said. Walter-Borjans became stronger when he talked about fiscal policy, which questioned black zero and announced that it was trying to drag its debt brake.
More investment, more tax justice: Only in the second part of his speech, he came to the "NoWaBo" classics, with which he had scored in the SPD internal election campaign. His appearance should also be accompanied by a sign of reconciliation: Scholz, his run-in counterpart, mentioned Walter-Borjans positively.
The style
Behind the lectern was the slogan of the congress: "In the new time". Accordingly lively Esken presented her speech. Although she read in broad passages, but got it much better than her partner to break away from the text to set accents and sometimes small punchlines. Walter Borjans' lecture, however, reminded in places of the lecture of a somewhat ambitious private lecturer. For some of the passages he read, one wondered if he would ever lift his head again and look into the hall.
Saskia Esken at the SPD party conference: "Out of the low-wage sector"
Kay Nietfeld / DPA
Esken talked a lot, spanning from her life story ("from parcel courier to computer scientist") to her notion of politics. At Walter-Borjans rather little personal flowed. That, too, was that Esken's talk was fresher, more entertaining than his.
Esken talked rather briefly, at least in party congressional standards; she confined herself to less than half an hour. Walter Borjans took much more time, almost three quarters of an hour, which, in conjunction with his style of lecturing, eventually led to a rapid decline of tension in the hall.
Special moment
After her speech, Esken called Walter-Borjans to the stage. "I wanted to give the man by my side a chance," she said. Together, the two let themselves be cheered by the delegates - even before the actual election.
Michele Tantussi / Getty Images
Saskia Esken
The resonance
As far as the enthusiasm during and after the SPD party speeches is concerned, there is a bar from the recent past: the famous Dresden speech that Sigmar Gabriel gave when he applied for the presidency almost exactly ten years ago. With this speech, Gabriel managed to revive a demoralized, 23 per cent crashed party, giving it new hope and courage. In Dresden, the hall raged.
This could be in Berlin in 2019, no question, even with Saskia Esken not. The atmosphere was friendly but far from enthusiastic. The first stronger applause she earned with a social democratic classic: "I want that every man can live from his hands work."
There was surprisingly little applause for this passage: "We were the party that Hartz IV introduced, we are the party that overcomes Hartz IV." At that moment, Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malu Dreyer could be seen on the big screens. They did not clap.
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"It is not democracy that is subordinated to the markets, but the markets of democracy." For this sentence Walter Borjans got the strongest applause. Overall, it was even quieter than Esken. Nevertheless, in the end there was a standing ovation for both, which is part of the ritual at party conferences. Regardless of what the gigs were before.
The conclusion
Esken surprised positively - but also because expectations were rather low after her appearances at the regional conferences. Walter Borjans, who was able to score points in the conferences with his friendly manner, disappointed. Overall, both did not rudimentary approach the level of a Sigmar Gabriel - but: Have used his rhetorical skills of the SPD ultimately nothing, the decline, he has not stopped.
In terms of content, the two outlined a left-wing SPD that wants to orient itself more strongly to classics such as peace and distributive justice. How it should become concrete policy, remained quite shadowy. But that's the way it is with congressional speeches - what they are ultimately worth is only ever revealed in the world outside.
Nevertheless, Esken and Walter-Borjans achieved good results considering their initial position. After tormenting, tiring months of chairing the SPD, the longing for a little rest seems great in the SPD. Whether the grand coalition holds now or not, was at least in the first party hours once only secondary.
The SPD now has a double point, for the first time a man and a woman lead the largest German party. It is an experiment. The skepticism in the SPD is great. Actually, the comrades long for leadership. Whether Walter Borjans and Esken can do this and whether the party follows them is open. One thing is clear: the SPD no longer has many chances.
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