Is the Union still spoiling the election campaign?
An expert warns that Armin Laschet cannot score points with “personality” like Angela Merkel.
But the concern goes much further.
Berlin / Munich - Germany is experiencing an unusual election campaign ahead of the 2021 federal election: Many personal mistakes among the current pollsters Union and Greens, hardly any substantive disputes - and despite warnings to the contrary from the CDU, possibly the hope of coming to power in the "sleeping car" .
Laschet and Baerbock: Too many "trivialities"?
Industry in "concern"
In view of this mixed situation, some actors and observers are now in danger of bursting their necks: The CDU is fermenting, and experts are already warning Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet of an unexpected defeat.
And German industry has now even called all of the election campaigners to order.
At the weekend, Joachim Lang, the managing director of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), warned that one was concerned about "minor issues" in the face of an election campaign.
The intervention is unusual - but it was brought forward by Lang with great urgency.
International cooperation, climate change, digitization and the Corona crisis are "huge challenges," he told
Welt am Sonntag
.
It is therefore "high time to get away from trivialities," emphasized Lang.
Instead, intensive debates about the parties' concepts "to strengthen the future viability and competitiveness of Germany as an industrial location," demanded the BDI General Manager.
Bundestag election: Expert believes Laschet failure is possible - because personality does not compensate for a lack of topics?
Remarkably, similar voices can currently be heard from the CDU itself. "It would be good if our candidate for chancellor would also excel with substantive points," said MP Michael von Abercron the
Spiegel
. In this regard, it is not enough to concentrate on the management of the consequences of the flood, said parliamentary group colleague Peter Bleser to the news magazine.
The well-known political scientist Jürgen Falter also sees the situation for the Union as critical.
“Armin Laschet could fail in the end.
The unrest in the Union about its ailing candidate is absolutely justified, ”he told the
Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung
.
Laschet's strategy of "bypassing all content-related debates is unlikely to lead him to success," he added - because, unlike the outgoing CDU Prime Minister Angela Merkel, Laschet cannot fill a lack of content with a strong personality.
Chancellor race: Scholz far ahead of Laschet and Baerbock - CDU man bursts at the green scolding the collar
However, there does not seem to be a lack of pointed topics: the SPD has so far hardly penetrated the general public with sophisticated demands - at least Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz celebrated survey successes. Unlike Laschet and Green competitor Annalena Baerbock, however, Scholz had moved through the election campaign largely without personal blunders. His cum-ex scandal is a bit behind and has not become a big topic again.
In view of the overall situation, the CDU is now calling for the level of personal attacks to be reduced considerably. "I would think it would be appropriate (especially during the election campaign) if we as democrats would stand together against insults and insults," tweeted the MP Matthias Hauer on Saturday. The Greens themselves had recently aggressively demanded substantive answers to their climate plans from the Union.
The reason for Hauer's request was Twitter criticism of a Baerbock web offer in so-called simple language.
“Is that easy language for the spiritually deranged?
Dude ... “, one user complained.
"You can argue about content, but to speak of 'mentally deranged' is completely wrong".
When asked whether one could instead agree on the wording "Green voters conform", Hauer had a clear answer: "No." (
fn with AFP
)
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