The situation in the morning: Laschet is sinking into the mud election campaign

Today it's about the problems of Union Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet in the election campaign, about the dispute between Markus Söder and Hubert Aiwanger - and about the rapidly increasing corona numbers in the USA.

Lash in the mud

There have been quite a few

crazy election campaigns

in recent years.

This year's gallop to the federal election is really unsurpassed strange.

The matter is bobbing about, but at the same time there are always

bizarre scenes

.

Armin Laschet is often involved.

Now the

Union candidate was once more in the flood area

in North Rhine-Westphalia to give

the caretaker

there.

He must do it, after all, he's prime minister.

But the

mud election campaign

is not

going that well

for him.

He's stuck in it.

First there was the laugh slip.

And now, from his recent visit to the village of Swisttal on Monday, it will be remembered that the candidate was

insulted

there by

angry residents

.

According to reports, people complained bitterly to their father about the lack of government aid.

The word

"failure"

is also said to have been used.

Politicians should go where it hurts.

But these are not nice pictures for Laschet.

Today, at another flood appointment, he has the opportunity to iron things out - or make matters worse.

The candidate travels to the crisis area again, taking

his biggest political competitor

with him.

No, we're not talking about Markus Söder, but about Olaf Scholz, the SPD candidate.

Somebody must have convinced Laschet that this bipartisan appearance could be

an excellent

idea.

But it may not really be clear to what extent Laschet is actually supposed to achieve something politically.

Does Laschet want to drag his rival Scholz into the flood mud?

True to the motto: A suffering shared is a suffering half?

That could be an explanation. But it is more likely

Scholz who could outdo Laschet here

. Ultimately, it seems agreed that the SPD finance minister

should use

this

trip to the crisis region

to promise millions in aid from "his" federal

treasury

. Laschet is then allowed to stand by, nodding gratefully, as a perceived supplicant. Scholz leaves again and Laschet remains in the mud.

But maybe it's all too small and too small and tactical.

Maybe Laschet just wants to show that he can bring all parties together in an emergency.

That doesn't have to be wrong and would be

really nice

.

But a real election campaign, in which differences between the candidates become visible to the citizens, actually works differently.

High tide or not.

• Options for power after the federal election: is the German coalition coming?

Söder now also has a problem

Speaking of election campaigns: The Bavarian Prime Minister and CSU leader

Markus Söder

is known for giving Armin Laschet clever advice on the right tactics from the sidelines.

Most recently, Söder said in an opinionated ZDF interview

, as

usual

, like in football, it is advisable to »just storm again yourself and be a bit offensive«.

And: "It has to come now." Söder described his own role in the election campaign as that of "the driver".

That was certainly meant the way it was meant, namely not nice.

However, the question must be allowed whether Söder is really the

campaign genius

he always claims to be.

In any case, he has a problem in his own country in the election campaign that he doesn't seem to be able to get a grip on.

Shortly before the election,

his Vice Prime Minister

Hubert Aiwanger from the Free Voters played

the top

vaccination skeptic

in order

to collect

cheap points

among the numerous other vaccine skeptics in the Bavarian electorate

. This is annoying for Söder and his CSU men. You probably suspect that the scam could harm them. After all, they have geared the party to a pro-vaccination course that it is now difficult to say goodbye to.

One thing is certain: "Drivers" Söder and his people have not - yet - found the right answer to Aiwanger, except that they are terribly upset about their coalition partner.

He will be happy, after all, if in doubt, that only makes his position a little better known in the country.

• Dispute over vaccinations: Bavaria's Minister of Health calls Aiwanger's statements "fatal"

Delta is making the USA more and more troublesome

The Delta virus variant is also spreading rapidly in the USA. According to the CDC, there are now

around 300 deaths a day

in the country

. That's a 25 percent increase in the number of deaths compared to the previous week. Currently, an average of almost

80,000 new infections are

registered

every day

. An increase of almost 150 percent compared to mid-July. The number of hospital admissions rose by 86 percent over the same period.

There are also - very rarely - infections from people who have already been fully vaccinated. The

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham

announced that he had been tested despite vaccination positive for the coronavirus. Graham stressed that his symptoms were mild. "I am very happy that I was vaccinated, because without it I would certainly not feel as good as I do now."

The Covid numbers in the USA are still far below the previous highs last winter.

At that time, more than 4,000 people died every day, and the number of new infections was over 200,000 a day.

And that is also

good news

: The vaccination rate is increasing again slightly.

After a decline in May, June and July, a good 670,000 vaccine doses are now being administered per day again.

Apparently the fear of Delta leads to more and more vaccine skeptics wanting to be vaccinated after all.

• Dangerous Delta variant: Corona risk for pregnant women has increased according to a British study

Loser of the day ...

... is the head of Allianz,

Oliver Bäte

. The manager, who is used to success, and his company are threatened with a lot of trouble. The alliance is grappling with an investigation by the US Department of Justice in the US. The plaintiffs accuse the Munich-based asset manager Allianz Global Investors (AGI) of corona-related losses of billions.

After the securities regulator SEC, the US Department of Justice has now launched an investigation, the alliance said.

As a result, the Allianz share fell by almost seven percent to 194 euros, the lowest it has been since the end of January.

The story is likely to keep Allianz busy for a while.

The course and outcome of investigations of this kind are extremely difficult to predict in the USA - as are the possible financial consequences, i.e. possible fines.

The latest news from the night

• Timanovskaya Olympic case: Poland's government accuses Belarus of attempting kidnapping.

  Sprinter Kristina Timanowskaja is given refuge in Poland.

  There is now sharp criticism of the Belarusian government's actions: The regime in Minsk tried to kidnap the athlete

• More executions in Saudi Arabia - after the end of the G20 presidency:

  Saudi Arabia is carrying out significantly more death sentences again this year.

  For Amnesty International this is directly related to the handover of the G20 presidency

• Malaika Mihambo won the first gold in athletics for Germany in Tokyo

  : In the last attempt, she jumped 7.00 meters - and left the competition just behind

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I wish you a good start to the day.

Your Roland Nelles