Many comrades themselves did not think it possible, but the SPD is on the upswing shortly before the election.
The atmosphere at the base is splendid.
Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen
- For the first time in 15 years, the SPD is again the strongest political force in Germany, according to the Sunday question.
In the trend barometer of the Forsa Institute, the Social Democrats come to 23 percent, the CDU / CSU rank second with 22 percent.
As of today, three tripartite alliances under the leadership of Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) would be possible in the future Bundestag.
The comrades in the district are very happy - but surveys are one thing, the election result on September 26th is decisive.
The Social Democrats (not only) know that.
Therefore, district chairman Klaus Barthel from Kochel am See warns against too much euphoria.
As a political professional who himself was represented in the Bundestag for six legislative periods for his party, he knows how fast it can go.
“Surveys should be treated with caution, they often didn't vote,” he says.
However, the 66-year-old expects that the current values could lead undecided voters to vote for the SPD.
“That is certainly a mobilizing element.” For this reason, too, the mood at the grassroots level is currently “very, very good”.
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Klaus Barthel, member of the German Bundestag for over two decades.
© Picasa
Until recently, Barthel himself would not necessarily have believed that Scholz (63) could become chancellor.
From his point of view, Scholz makes no mistakes - in contrast to his competitors Annalena Baerbock (40, Greens) and Armin Laschet (60, CDU).
"And with the topic of respect, attached to the symbolic subject of the minimum wage, he definitely hits a point."
Wolfgang Werner takes note of the current trend barometer "with great satisfaction".
But the 46-year-old Geretsrieder, who has been a member of the SPD since 1997, warns: “It's just polls”, until the federal election on Sunday, September 26th, “it's still four weeks, we mustn't let up now,” appeals the former mayoral candidate and SPD district chairwoman to the election campaigners: "The hunted hares will only be counted on September 26th after 6 p.m."
Werner, who has represented the Social Democrats on the Geretsried City Council and the District Council since 2009, attributes the current success report not least to the top candidate Scholz.
"He was already very popular as Hamburg's Lord Mayor", earned his merits as Federal Finance Minister and Vice-Chancellor in the Merkel cabinet, was very experienced "and rightly enjoyed the greatest popularity among the population".
After the many electoral slips that the comrades had to cope with in the recent past, the result of the Sunday question was “balm for the social-democratic soul”, says Werner.
And: If, according to him, there was more resignation at the base in the spring, “you can now feel a spirit of optimism”.
Werner: "Maybe the big surprise will succeed."
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Gerhard Jakobi from Icking, recipient of the Willy Brandt Medal.
© Sabine Hermsdorf-Hiss
Gerhard Jakobi, for many years the local chairman of the Ickingen SPD, was recently awarded the Willy Brandt Medal - the highest honor the SPD has to bestow.
The 86-year-old confirms: "That is encouraging and is really good, after all the defeats we had to put up with." He attributes the current high to Scholz's charisma, which he describes as "calm and seriousness".
Its specific messages on the mega-topics of housing construction, digitization and climate protection are also a plus point.
“He just does it really well.” Jakobi, who has been a member of the SPD for almost 60 years, would personally welcome a red-red-green alliance.
"I can do without the FDP."
75 Lenze is the Wolfratshauser Fritz Schnaller, who has been a member of the SPD for almost 50 years. He can remember many ups and downs of his party. The fact that the SPD is currently ahead of the chancellor candidate Scholz "surprises me very positively," said Schnaller, city councilor for 25 years, in an interview with our newspaper. “It's good to be in the political sunshine again after so much rain.” The poll results confirm his opinion that social democratic-conservative politics (“as represented by Olaf Scholz”) are appreciated by voters. Extreme political positions “on the other hand are no longer justifiable”.
Schnaller admits that a poll is not an election result - “but polls can also be very negative,” he warns the doomers.
However, he warns against “becoming cocky now” and refers to the example of Martin Schulz (65).
The former SPD mayor of Würselen in North Rhine-Westphalia wanted to lift Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) out of her chair in 2017.
The initial great euphoria was followed by the worst election result for the Social Democrats in post-war history with 20.5 percent of the vote.
Also read: Willy Brandt Medal for Gerhard Jakobi
Tobias Raphelt comes from a family that has upheld basic social democratic values for several generations. The 48-year-old former mayoral candidate, who has been a local councilor in Lenggries since 2020, has been a member of the SPD for 30 years. The result of the most recent Sunday question "shows that it makes sense to believe in the SPD and to work for them," says Raphelt. The chairman of the Lenggries local association attributes the tailwind that the comrades are currently feeling to “the unity of the party to the outside world”. Instead of getting bogged down in “internal power struggles”, as is so often the case in the past, the focus is on political issues “and pulling together”.
The native of Tölz attests to the SPD top candidate Scholz a high level of competence and prudence in political decisions, "which others often lack".
In the current federal election campaign, he had heard a lot of praise for Scholz “from people across all parties and political groups”.
Raphelt: "That says a lot."
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