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Chancellor Merkel, Prime Minister Söder on the Chiemsee, July 2020
Photo: Peter Kneffel / DPA
Once upon a time there was an argument.
A CSU chairman left the chancellor standing on the party stage for 13 minutes and gave her an unfriendly lecture on refugee policy.
The same CSU chairman later declared that he would not be dismissed by a female chancellor "who is only chancellor because of me."
Yes, it wasn't a warm relationship back then between Horst Seehofer and Angela Merkel.
Both parties paid for it afterwards with a loss of voters and trust.
Seehofer's successor in the state chancellery and party chairmanship has since relied on demonstrative proximity to the chancellor.
And even in the corona pandemic, Markus Söder was always the Chancellor's closest supporter on the side of the federal states.
Söder may have recognized that even after the end of the Merkel era, the Union must make an offer to Merkel supporters in order to win elections.
more on the subject
Chancellor candidacy of the Union: Söder now has to say what he wants A comment by Florian Gathmann
Or better: that
he has
to make an offer
to
these voters.
This can be seen in the fight for the Union Chancellor candidacy between him and the CDU chairman Armin Laschet.
Most recently, Söder assured in the “Bild am Sonntag” that the decision on the candidate for chancellor “should also be coordinated closely with Angela Merkel.
Because it has to be a joint election campaign with the Chancellor.
A Union candidate can hardly be successful without the support of Angela Merkel. "
In a new survey by the opinion research institute Civey for SPIEGEL, it becomes clear that Söder's strategy of proximity is effective.
Almost two thirds of Germans believe that Söder has the confidence of the Chancellor.
Only a good 18 percent don't believe that.
Among Union supporters, over 80 percent think that Söder enjoys Merkel's trust.
At Armin Laschet, the values are almost reversed.
Only a good 20 percent of Germans assume that Laschet has the confidence of the Chancellor, around 57 percent are convinced of the opposite.
In the Sunday question, the Union parties leveled off just below the 30 percent mark after weeks of downturn, reaching around 28 percent this week.
It is followed by the Greens with 23 percent.
The SPD remains at 15 percent, the AfD and FDP are around 10 percent, and the left is below that.
If this survey were carried out on election day in autumn, two coalitions would be conceivable: A black-green variant, probably under either Chancellor Söder or Chancellor Laschet;
as well as a traffic light constellation led by the Greens with SPD and FDP under a Chancellor Annalena Baerbock or a Chancellor Robert Habeck.
As things stand, it wasn't enough for a green-red-red option.
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