Rankings and surveys are particularly popular in Austria.
Although their expressiveness sometimes weakens considerably, the boulevard also presents minimal changes with maximum excitement.
However, some demoscopic snapshots allow interesting conclusions, such as the new "trust index" for top federal political personnel, which the APA news agency and the OGM opinion research institute published.
Many heads of the conservative ÖVP do poorly, only the Economics Minister is really well liked - and he is actually a scientist.
The Chancellor's party survived the last election in its heartland of Lower Austria badly battered, but frontman Karl Nehammer's job should be secured for the time being: the head of government enjoys more trust than his ÖVP, which has been tainted with corruption since the Sebastian Kurz era.
Nehammer returned to Vienna from the EU summit in a victorious pose these days because a tougher line on the issues of external borders and migration had been decided in Brussels.
But will this also significantly improve the catastrophic situation of his ÖVP, which is bobbing in all polls at just over 20 percent?
There is no human difference between the ÖVP and the Greens
Public support for Nehammer's conservative-green government had already shrunk drastically before that.
Only every third Austrian currently supports the coalition parties.
Distrust characterizes the internal climate of the alliance.
The deportation of Viennese schoolgirls forced by the ÖVP, the forced resignation of Sebastian Kurz as chancellor, the denunciation of the ÖVP in the investigative committee forced by the eco-party – there are many things that partners do not forget each other.
They were never attached to each other like the ÖVP and FPÖ before.
Also because of Corona, there was hardly any human interaction between the ideologically alien coalition partners.
In video conferences during the lockdowns, you just didn’t get together for a beer after work, as an ÖVP strategist explains these days.
Despite all the provocations, scandals and intrigues, there is little to suggest that the coalition will break up prematurely.
Because things are going well for the Greens: The eco-party is stable in surveys at around ten percent, and their staff also does well in the current confidence index.
Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler's trust rating is four times higher than the party's approval rating.
Justice Minister Alma Zadić even ranks second after the Federal President.
Kurz' coalition construction
Before the next election in autumn 2024, it should be easy for the Greens to score points with their supporters: climate ticket, eco-social tax reform, anti-corruption laws, as well as the prevented construction of the motorway through the Lobau nature reserve - all of them bite-sized, catchy buzzwords that convey mistakes, embarrassment and the unpopular how to outshine the failed compulsory vaccination.
The party will find it difficult to push through more green content in future coalitions.
The fact that projects such as the eco-social tax reform, which Kurz's intimate Gernot Blümel was driving, should be attributed primarily to the Greens is due to the way the coalition is constructed.
Sebastian Kurz decided against the very different partners working together to make the Alpine republic fit for the future, to combine ecology and economy and to communicate this to the outside world.
Instead, the parties maintain their core areas separately: the ÖVP migration and economy, the Greens climate protection and related fields.
The partners should not interfere with each other's body and stomach issues.
Kurz sold this approach to the public as »the best of both worlds«.
Before the next parliamentary elections, the Greens can boast that, as a smaller partner, they have achieved a lot in their areas - despite the pandemic and the effects of Putin's war.
Nehammer and the ÖVP have hardly (yet) been able to do that, which probably explains the vehemence with which the conservatives are spreading the issue of migration.
Nehammer is maneuvering the country passably through the inflation and supply crisis. As chancellor of neutral Austria, he has positioned himself clearly on the side of Ukraine and ended other chancellors' cuddles with Putin.
But: Every survey shows that he and his substantially damaged ÖVP brand will not be voted for.
There are no allegations of corruption on Nehammer, unlike Kurz, design is more important to him than the headline-grabbing pose.
But the chancellor must sweep up the shards left behind by his predecessor.
That may sound unfair, but that's politics.
Social Media Moment of the Week:
Espionage is permitted in Austria, provided it is not directed against the host country.
Correspondingly unabashedly, the great powers are spying and snooping in Vienna, above all Russia.
The cabaret artist Peter Klien skewered the serious topic in an amusing way in his program »Gute Nacht Österreich«.
Stories we recommend you today:
Power struggle in the SPÖ: Who is pointed to the red tip?
Environment of the gaming group: house searches around Novomatic
Podcast "Inside Austria": Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) made sure that the coalition parties act separately in their core areas instead of together.: Why FPÖ is celebrating a comeback
Gossip in Carinthia: Why beekeepers argue about bee breeds
Get through the week safely!
Warm greetings from Vienna
Yours, Oliver Das Gupta
Author for SPIEGEL and STANDARD
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