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SPD candidate for Chancellor Olaf Scholz
Photo: Sebastian Willnow / dpa
The candidate for chancellor himself cannot be seen this Sunday evening.
Olaf Scholz leaves it to SPD general secretary Lars Klingbeil and the party leaders to explain the defeat in Saxony-Anhalt.
Although the analysis by Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans should not have reached many: There are sound problems with the online livestream from the Willy-Brandt-Haus.
"Unfortunately, the level of the microphone so far reflects the election results," commented one viewer.
"Please turn up the volume."
It just doesn't work out for the comrades.
At the federal level, the party remains in the polls between 14 and 16 percent.
And now the next setback: the last mood test before the federal election also failed.
A fall in the single-digit position, according to projections, the SPD in Saxony-Anhalt only got around eight percent - one of the worst results in the party's history.
Expectations before the state elections were low anyway.
In the election five years ago, the SPD fell to 10.6 percent.
This time it should be at least that much again.
In addition, the comrades hoped to be able to pass the Left Party.
The SPD missed both goals.
In addition, the CDU got a surprisingly strong result.
And so Klingbeil, who is also the campaign manager for the federal election, has to admit the next defeat of the Social Democrats.
"Not a nice result," he says.
His party had hoped for more.
But in Saxony-Anhalt there was a lot of polarization between Reiner Haseloff and the AfD.
This "has nothing to say" for the federal election, asserts Klingbeil.
Scholz has good personal values, which must now be transferred to the party.
But the assurances are no longer even with some top comrades.
There is talk of "perplexity and perseverance".
Three and a half months before the federal elections, the SPD appears powerless, even more: helpless.
That's a problem for Scholz.
For weeks, leading Social Democrats have been forecasting a change in sentiment.
They want to catch up with the Union and the Greens by the summer break.
But no matter how strong the political competition in the polls grows or slips: almost nothing is happening with the values of the SPD.
Attacks on the Union don't get caught
There is perplexity in the party.
It is said that a lot has been achieved in this grand coalition.
The ministers are hardworking, especially Scholz, who was able to book an agreement between the G7 finance ministers on Sunday on a global minimum taxation for international companies.
A project the finance minister worked on for three years.
Labor Minister Hubertus Heil and Environment Minister Svenja Schulze can also point to successes.
Alone: Nothing seems to be paying into the SPD.
Sharp attacks on the coalition partner also do not catch on. Scholz accused the CDU and CSU again on Saturday of making politics for powerful lobby groups. The Union wants to pass rising heating costs through the CO2 price on to tenants alone. "That is really the cold heart of the Union, and that is the cold heart of a party that is firmly in the grip of lobbyists," said Scholz. He is now more out of the role of Vice Chancellor and into the role of the candidate, it says internally with appreciation.
Scholz and his party find it more difficult to deal with the Greens.
Some comrades also want to attack Annalena Baerbock more sharply - for example because of her corrections in the curriculum vitae or the additional income reported by the Greens boss.
Social democrats warn, however, of the solidarity effect of voters in the event of violent attacks on Baerbock.
But does the SPD still have something to lose?
Can the party still manage to generate momentum, a dynamic in order to leave its permanent lows?
Klingbeil at least leaves no stone unturned in mobilizing its own people.
And if it is the reference to historical struggles of the party.
At a campaign camp for Bundestag candidates, the general secretary said he was annoyed "that there are strategic agreements between the Greens and the Union on how best to keep social democracy a secret."
And further: The SPD has often had situations in its history where they wanted to get it down.
"The Social Democrats' answer was always struggle."
The big question, however, is whether the SPD still has enough strength for it.