Enlarge image
Olaf Scholz at the ARD appearance in Lübeck
Photo: Axel Heimken / dpa
On Tuesday evening it is Olaf Scholz's turn.
After the green candidate for Chancellor Annalena Baerbock, the Social Democratic candidate now has his appearance in the ARD "election arena".
Scholz can be questioned by voters for 75 minutes.
How did he do?
the initial situation
The SPD chancellor candidate is a favorite on the show.
It still feels a bit strange when writing, but that's the situation at the moment: It is quite possible that the next Chancellor will be Olaf Scholz.
In the polls he is now clearly in first place.
It is unlikely that his television appearance in the ARD »election arena« will change that.
He'd have to screw up for that, but why should he?
Scholz is far too cautious to risk anything and he has experience with audience surveys.
As Hamburg's mayor, he regularly presented himself to the citizens.
Empathy is not one of his strengths, but it doesn't have to hurt him.
In this format, empathy is not important.
Citizens want answers to their questions, not compassion.
The setting
The broadcast comes from the Kulturwerft in Lübeck.
A manageable number of spectators who sit in a circle between Plexiglas panes.
Because of Corona, additional viewers from six branch offices from all over the republic are connected.
The topics for the questions were selected with the help of an opinion research institute.
The program is moderated by WDR editor-in-chief Ellen Ehni and her NDR colleague Andreas Cichowicz.
The two of them don't have much to do.
You assign the questions without any recognizable structure and sometimes have to make sure that the answers are not too long.
Ehni cannot help but summarize Scholz's remarks at the end with a comment.
As if she wanted to distribute school grades.
The candidate wears his usual uniform: dark suit, white shirt, open collar.
At the beginning he grins his smurfy Scholz grin a little tense, but he quickly loosens up.
In between a camera falls over.
The picture wobbles, it rattles, but Scholz doesn't change his face.
The topics
A restaurateur from Hanover has the first word.
He asks about the minimum wage.
Fears that he will have to increase the price of coffee from 3.10 euros to four euros.
Scholz weighs it down - and defends his plan to raise the minimum wage to twelve euros.
At the very end, a viewer wants to know how to make electric cars affordable.
By the industry making an effort, the candidate responds.
And until that happens - with government grants.
In between, it goes back and forth through the political fields for an hour and 15 minutes:
Bundeswehr
: Scholz promises to equip the armed forces well.
Just as he has already ensured that the defense budget has been increased again and again.
Value added tax
: Because of the crisis, taxes on meals have been temporarily reduced, and if he has his way, it will stay that way.
Digitization of schools
: Must be continued, even if Corona is over at some point, says the candidate.
Pension
: There will be no further increase in the retirement age.
Not with him, promises Scholz.
Brutalizing society
: As Chancellor, he will ensure that the democracy promotion law that has failed in this legislature is enforced.
And promises to take decisive action against hate online,
Worldwide vaccination fairness
: "We wouldn't gain much if only we protected ourselves here," says Scholz.
Hardly a topic is left out on this evening.
The Scholz method
When the ARD »election arena« came to an end, a viewer on Twitter summarized the candidate's appearance as follows: »Clever, how Scholz lulls!
1. I love you.
2. Yes, you are right 3. Always radiate concern.
4. Always nod.
5. Radiate the feeling: You take the questioner seriously.
6. Yes, do not contradict.
7. Contact me directly.
That's how you become Chancellor! "
And that is also part of the Scholz Method: Solving problems with money.
You can hardly keep up with the many "catch-up packages" that Scholz lists that evening.
Well, after all, the man is finance minister, and that makes a difference.
Even if he should become chancellor.
Then he has to solve even more problems.
And spend even more money.
The strongest moment
A finance officer from Lübeck speaks up, smiles in a friendly manner and confirms that the candidate has so far benefited primarily from the missteps of his two competitors.
Scholz has enough to answer for his own mistakes.
And he names the keywords: the outbreaks of violence at the Hamburg G-20 summit, the affair over the cum-ex deals of the Warburg Bank, the Wirecard scandal.
"Can I trust you that these mistakes won't happen again?" He wants to know.
It is the only time that evening that Scholz has been attacked directly.
He might answer now that one should look him in the eye to see if he could be trusted.
And he actually answers something like that.
He smiles a little.
But then he gets serious.
No, it is even more important, says Scholz, to draw the right conclusions.
And then, using Wirecard as an example, he enumerates everything he has done to prevent such a scandal in the future.
The laws were changed, the financial supervisory authority was given new powers, a new man was hired as the chief financial supervisor, and it was ensured that the auditors would be rotated regularly in the future.
Any more questions?
No, no more questions.
The candidate successfully buried the allegations under a torrent of relentless objectivity.
The weakest moment
But this method doesn't always work.
A student from Cologne gets in touch and wants to know how he, as "climate chancellor", can actually represent it to hold on to climate-damaging coal-fired power generation until 2038.
Again Scholz tries to bury the implicit accusation with a torrent of facts.
It's about steelworks, the chemical industry, cement factories, electricity, terrawatts, billions in investments and nuclear power plants.
The spectators' heads are spinning.
But in the end the number 2038 is still in the room.
Scholz a "climate chancellor"?
The questioner is not convinced.
You can tell by her.
The bottom line
After 75 minutes, Scholz made it. He didn't convince everyone, but he didn't make a mistake either. He sailed through the show with calm and friendly objectivity. He went in as a favorite, he didn't do anything wrong, and so he came out as a favorite. What more does he want?