🇩🇪 German elections (federal & EU level)

[Yeahsayyeah]

It would be better to call parties by their proper name...

What are you referring to?

The post above mine, where the poster is showing a habit, he or she seems all the time, that shows him or her living more than 30 years in the past.

[Amanda Huggenkiss]

It would be better to call parties by their proper name...

What are you referring to?

The post above mine, where the poster is showing a habit, he or she seems all the time, that shows him or her living more than 30 years in the past.

Now that someone has compared the LINKE to the SED, it is time for everyone's standard reminder that the CDU existed in the DDR, supported the SED government and was part of the non-democratic parliament, only became democratic in 1990, and was absorbed into the CDU of Germany - with all its former socialist personell and all it's party infrastructure.

[Yeahsayyeah]

It would be better to call parties by their proper name...

What are you referring to?

The post above mine, where the poster is showing a habit, he or she seems all the time, that shows him or her living more than 30 years in the past.

Now that someone has compared the LINKE to the SED, it is time for everyone's standard reminder that the CDU existed in the DDR, supported the SED government and was part of the non-democratic parliament, only became democratic in 1990, and was absorbed into the CDU of Germany - with all its former socialist personell and all it's party infrastructure.

And they got the "Democratic Peasants' Party", too. And the FDP got the "Liberal-Democratic Party of Germany" and the "National Democratic Party of Germany", for the sake of completeness, only. In fact, all of the CDU prime ministers in the East in 1990, despite the Westerner Biedenkopf were "Blockflöten" (recorders, as in: quite high-ranking members of the bloc parties of the SED-led "Antifascist democratic bloc"

[Astatine]

A pointless but fun exercise would be to predict how many Bundesländer each party will win a constituency seat in.
Union: I'm going to predict they're locked out of Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, R-P, Saarland, Sachsen,  Sachsen-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Thüringen. I presume Merkel still has some coattails in her seat. That leaves 6, a pretty low total.

Not impossible, but considering CDU/CSU is likely to overperform in the district vote compared to the proportional result, I doubt they will fail that miserably in those states. Some seats seem to much of a stretch for the SPD - Some of the CDU/CSU strongholds include (with margins over SPD in 2017):

Bitburg (RLP): +25.5
St. Wendel (Saarland): +11.4
Nordfriesland (S-H): +19.9
Eichsfeld (Thuringia): +23.7 (+16.6 over AfD)
Altmark (S-A): +13.5 (+13.4 over Linke)
Chemnitzer Umland (Saxony): +24.8 (+8.5 over AfD)

Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt are most likely to result in an anti-CDU sweep (hardly any double digit margin seats and more elastic electorate), while I think CDU still has enough residual strength and/or incumbency bonus in seats in the other states (all in the West, apart from Eichsfeld which is the only part of the former DDR with a Catholic population plurality iirc).

[Yeahsayyeah]

Union: I'm going to predict they're locked out of Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, R-P, Saarland, Sachsen,  Sachsen-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Thüringen. I presume Merkel still has some coattails in her seat. That leaves 6, a pretty low total.

The CDU most likely will not be locked out in Saxony of all places. And when they lose the Eichsfeld-based seat in northern Thuringia, probably hell freezes over. And I'd guess they will probably still "hold" Saxony-Anhalt except the two city-based seats Halle and Magdeburg

Grüne: Hardest to predict - beyond Berlin and Baden Wurttemberg it's tough as you're essentially predicting individual seats. 3 on the balance of probability, Sachsen seems the most likely given SPD dominance elsewhere.

The Dresden and Leipzig districts are almost impossible to predict with the ongoin dynamics, Leipzig II (south) could go to SPD, Linke, Greens (in no particular order) and even to the CDU in a fluke. Leipzig I (north) is either a CDU, SPD or even AfD as it is a strange mix of traditionally bourgeois inner-city areas, gentrified pre-WK II workling-class areas, ungetrified pre-WK II working-class areas, GDR era housing estates and incorporated suburbs. If I had to bet I would say Greens in the south and an SPD/CDU-nailbiter in the north. In Dresden, all bets are off.

For the Greens the Wendland constituency in Lower Saxony should be mentioned as a possibility. They seem to hold their numbers in the polls in Bavaria, so it seems possible they get some city districts, there. South Hesse? Postdam? Rostock? Their "problem" in winning seats is, that there is often a correlation between SPD strength and Green strength.

AfD: 2. Sachsen and Thüringen, relying on hearsay somewhat.

Saxony is almost a given, Thuringia, Lower Lusatia (South Brandenburg) and Western Pomerania with Merkel gone and the rust belt parts of Saxony-Anhalt clearly seem possibilities.

Die Linke: 1. Berlin seems a safe bet but Sachsen doesn't.

If you run a uniform swing model in certain combinations Rostock seems to be a possibility, as the Left's Dietmar Bartsch is running again, but I think, this was before the SPD surge.

[Yeahsayyeah]

Related to the Saxony discussion, from Wiki:

Also, why the SPD strength in Brandenburg, and in such a sharply defined area? I know their later results are thanks to a popular Minister-President, but this was just a couple months after the Revolution.

Using the state boundaries of today dilutes the fact, that the GDR was separated into 15 districts. And each district had different party lists. So the areas outstanding for the SPD are the districts of Potsdam, Frankfurt/oder and Magdeburg, that one basically can tell apart from their surroundings. So I guess, regional candidate strength and party organisation (SPD being a party of evangelical clergymen and -women helping more in the more rural parts?, idk).

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/08/olaf-scholz-merit-society-not-be-limited-top-earners-germany-election

Nice article in The Guardian about Olaf Scholz, his current take on the world, and the SPD campaign centered around "Competence for Germany. Respect for you and your life".

In a wide-ranging interview with the Guardian, Scholz said he would also use the political victory within his reach to kickstart a fresh debate about how to redefine professional and social merit.

“Why did Britain vote for Brexit if it was against its own interest? Why did America vote for Trump? I believe it is because people are experiencing deep social insecurities, and lack appreciation for what they do,” the 63-year-old said before a campaign rally in the university city of Göttingen, in Lower Saxony.

“We see the same dissatisfaction and insecurity not just in the US or the UK but in the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Austria or Germany – countries that may look from the outside like they don’t have any problems at all.

“Among certain professional classes, there is a meritocratic exuberance that has led people to believe their success is completely self-made. As a result, those who actually keep the show on the road don’t get the respect they deserve. That has to change.”

Centred around the word “respect”, Scholz’s campaign borrows heavily from Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel’s recent writings on the “tyranny of merit”, and he told the Guardian he had been left “shaken” after reading the British sociologist Michael Young’s 1958 book The Rise of Meritocracy.

“He [Young] described the rise of meritocracy as a dystopian satire of the year 2034, but it has turned out to be an almost prophetic description of the trends of our time,” Scholz said.

Thinkers such as Sandel or Daniel Markovits argue that meritocracy – a political system that aims to reward individuals on the basis of talent, effort, and achievement – has come to be dominated by educated knowledge workers who define merit solely along their own value sets and neglect to credit physical forms of labour.

“There is nothing wrong about merit as such,” Scholz said. “But it is something that must not only be limited to top-earners and those with university degrees. A security guard has merit too. Manual labourers don’t deserve less respect than academics.”

And whether “respect” can become a coherent policy as well as a catchphrase remains unclear. “We have two tasks,” Scholz said. “Recognise these other types of merit on the one hand, and pay better wages for those who are not appropriately compensated on the other. A higher minimum wage is important, as are better wages for carers and skilled workers.”

Some of Scholz’s campaign pledges are social democratic in the old-fashioned sense: as well as the minimum wage increase to €12 an hour, he calls for the return of a wealth tax and the construction of 400,000 new homes a year. The SPD proposes replacing the sanction-tied Hartz IV unemployment benefit controversially introduced by the last centre-left government with a new, less “distrustful” welfare programme, called “citizens’ money”.

“Maybe progressive parties in Europe and the USA have for too long neglected to tackle these two big challenges,” Scholz said. As models for renewing the left, he points not to the Democratic party of the US president, Joe Biden, but social democratic parties in Sweden, Denmark and Finland.

The SPD candidate’s project to reinvigorate the German centre-left remains a balancing act: for while his campaign at least partially reverses out of the rhetoric of the third way, it also seeks to steal the crown of economic competence from the centre-right CDU.

[Mike88]

Just saw this report:

https://twitter.com/bpolitics/status/1435934784488939524

German prosecutors raided the federal finance and justice ministries in Berlin as part of a probe into whether officials at an anti-money laundering unit failed to handle cases correctly.

The investigation is looking into whether officials at the Financial Intelligence Unit -- part of the finance ministry under Social Democrat chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz -- failed to act on money-laundering warnings they received from banks, prosecutors in the city of Osnabrueck said Thursday in an emailed statement.

This comes at a sensitive point for Scholz, who opinion polls suggest has a good chance of becoming Germany’s next chancellor after the Sept. 26 election. The finance ministry has been under scrutiny for the failings of its agencies, FIU and BaFin, to detect the Wirecard AG scandal.

Germany has come under repeated pressure from international organizations, like the OECD, and transparency campaigners that say the country massively failed to comply with anti-money laundering standards. The demise of Wirecard last year increased these worries as allegations emerged that the company was heavily involved in whitewashing money from illicit sources.

This seems to have been already in the headlines, but could it hurt Scholz or at least halt his momentum? However, I'm not sure how the CDU/CSU could attack him on this because, well, CDU/CSU are also in government.

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

It would be better to call parties by their proper name...

What are you referring to?

The post above mine, where the poster is showing a habit, he or she seems all the time, that shows him or her living more than 30 years in the past.

Now that someone has compared the LINKE to the SED, it is time for everyone's standard reminder that the CDU existed in the DDR, supported the SED government and was part of the non-democratic parliament, only became democratic in 1990, and was absorbed into the CDU of Germany - with all its former socialist personell and all it's party infrastructure.

Linkie get's sh**t because it has elected stasi members and has numerous members who countinue to defend the human rights record of GDR, the rest of the parties don't.

[Yeahsayyeah]

Wow, what a hack.

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

Wow, what a hack.

You're the one blind to the kind of anti-democratic authoritaranism your party is itching to jump into bed with.

[Continential]

Wow, what a hack.

You're the one blind to the kind of anti-democratic authoritaranism your party is itching to jump into bed with.

Yeahsayyeah is a Green, but ok.

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

Wow, what a hack.

You're the one blind to the kind of anti-democratic authoritaranism your party is itching to jump into bed with.

Yeahsayyeah is a Green, but ok.

A large part of the Greens wanna overlook Linkies flaws and jump into bed with them to form a red-red-green goverment. Thank god the party has a prgamtic moderate wing that will stop such insanity. Kretschmann and özdemir's are what's keeping the party sane.

[Lechasseur]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/08/olaf-scholz-merit-society-not-be-limited-top-earners-germany-election

Nice article in The Guardian about Olaf Scholz, his current take on the world, and the SPD campaign centered around "Competence for Germany. Respect for you and your life".

In a wide-ranging interview with the Guardian, Scholz said he would also use the political victory within his reach to kickstart a fresh debate about how to redefine professional and social merit.

“Why did Britain vote for Brexit if it was against its own interest? Why did America vote for Trump? I believe it is because people are experiencing deep social insecurities, and lack appreciation for what they do,” the 63-year-old said before a campaign rally in the university city of Göttingen, in Lower Saxony.

“We see the same dissatisfaction and insecurity not just in the US or the UK but in the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Austria or Germany – countries that may look from the outside like they don’t have any problems at all.

“Among certain professional classes, there is a meritocratic exuberance that has led people to believe their success is completely self-made. As a result, those who actually keep the show on the road don’t get the respect they deserve. That has to change.”

Centred around the word “respect”, Scholz’s campaign borrows heavily from Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel’s recent writings on the “tyranny of merit”, and he told the Guardian he had been left “shaken” after reading the British sociologist Michael Young’s 1958 book The Rise of Meritocracy.

“He [Young] described the rise of meritocracy as a dystopian satire of the year 2034, but it has turned out to be an almost prophetic description of the trends of our time,” Scholz said.

Thinkers such as Sandel or Daniel Markovits argue that meritocracy – a political system that aims to reward individuals on the basis of talent, effort, and achievement – has come to be dominated by educated knowledge workers who define merit solely along their own value sets and neglect to credit physical forms of labour.

“There is nothing wrong about merit as such,” Scholz said. “But it is something that must not only be limited to top-earners and those with university degrees. A security guard has merit too. Manual labourers don’t deserve less respect than academics.”

And whether “respect” can become a coherent policy as well as a catchphrase remains unclear. “We have two tasks,” Scholz said. “Recognise these other types of merit on the one hand, and pay better wages for those who are not appropriately compensated on the other. A higher minimum wage is important, as are better wages for carers and skilled workers.”

Some of Scholz’s campaign pledges are social democratic in the old-fashioned sense: as well as the minimum wage increase to €12 an hour, he calls for the return of a wealth tax and the construction of 400,000 new homes a year. The SPD proposes replacing the sanction-tied Hartz IV unemployment benefit controversially introduced by the last centre-left government with a new, less “distrustful” welfare programme, called “citizens’ money”.

“Maybe progressive parties in Europe and the USA have for too long neglected to tackle these two big challenges,” Scholz said. As models for renewing the left, he points not to the Democratic party of the US president, Joe Biden, but social democratic parties in Sweden, Denmark and Finland.

The SPD candidate’s project to reinvigorate the German centre-left remains a balancing act: for while his campaign at least partially reverses out of the rhetoric of the third way, it also seeks to steal the crown of economic competence from the centre-right CDU.

Scholz sounds pretty smart, and this is what the left should be about imo.

And yeah ofc the Democratic Party isn't a model, it's a trash-tier party.

[Amanda Huggenkiss]

It would be better to call parties by their proper name...

What are you referring to?

The post above mine, where the poster is showing a habit, he or she seems all the time, that shows him or her living more than 30 years in the past.

Now that someone has compared the LINKE to the SED, it is time for everyone's standard reminder that the CDU existed in the DDR, supported the SED government and was part of the non-democratic parliament, only became democratic in 1990, and was absorbed into the CDU of Germany - with all its former socialist personell and all it's party infrastructure.

Linkie get's sh**t because it has elected stasi members and has numerous members who countinue to defend the human rights record of GDR, the rest of the parties don't.

Every party has had their Stasi-informants, and the CDU also has nominated people very recently who had vigorously defended DDR-socialism when they lived there. People who try to pin the legacy of the DDR solely on the LINKE just because it is the legal successor of the SED generally don't argue in good faith, have no real understanding of the historical life situations of Eastern Germans, or both. And I say that as a non-LINKE-voter.

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

It would be better to call parties by their proper name...

What are you referring to?

The post above mine, where the poster is showing a habit, he or she seems all the time, that shows him or her living more than 30 years in the past.

Now that someone has compared the LINKE to the SED, it is time for everyone's standard reminder that the CDU existed in the DDR, supported the SED government and was part of the non-democratic parliament, only became democratic in 1990, and was absorbed into the CDU of Germany - with all its former socialist personell and all it's party infrastructure.

Linkie get's sh**t because it has elected stasi members and has numerous members who countinue to defend the human rights record of GDR, the rest of the parties don't.

Every party has had their Stasi-informants, and the CDU also has nominated people very recently who had vigorously defended DDR-socialism when they lived there. People who try to pin the legacy of the DDR solely on the LINKE just because it is the legal successor of the SED generally don't argue in good faith, have no real understanding of the historical life situations in Eastern Germans, or both. And I say that as a non-LINKE-voter.

They don't nominate people who were proud of working for the stasi in high level roles unlike Linkie nor do they nominate people still defend DDR socialism.

[Leading Political Consultant Ma Anand Sheela]

It would be better to call parties by their proper name...

What are you referring to?

The post above mine, where the poster is showing a habit, he or she seems all the time, that shows him or her living more than 30 years in the past.

Now that someone has compared the LINKE to the SED, it is time for everyone's standard reminder that the CDU existed in the DDR, supported the SED government and was part of the non-democratic parliament, only became democratic in 1990, and was absorbed into the CDU of Germany - with all its former socialist personell and all it's party infrastructure.

Linkie get's sh**t because it has elected stasi members and has numerous members who countinue to defend the human rights record of GDR, the rest of the parties don't.

Every party has had their Stasi-informants, and the CDU also has nominated people very recently who had vigorously defended DDR-socialism when they lived there. People who try to pin the legacy of the DDR solely on the LINKE just because it is the legal successor of the SED generally don't argue in good faith, have no real understanding of the historical life situations of Eastern Germans, or both. And I say that as a non-LINKE-voter.

And as someone who does vote for the legal successor to my own Eastern Bloc country's communist party and who has some personal ties to that social milieu, I like to occasionally poke fun in my own way at the political tradition I effectively support

[Amanda Huggenkiss]

It would be better to call parties by their proper name...

What are you referring to?

The post above mine, where the poster is showing a habit, he or she seems all the time, that shows him or her living more than 30 years in the past.

Now that someone has compared the LINKE to the SED, it is time for everyone's standard reminder that the CDU existed in the DDR, supported the SED government and was part of the non-democratic parliament, only became democratic in 1990, and was absorbed into the CDU of Germany - with all its former socialist personell and all it's party infrastructure.

Linkie get's sh**t because it has elected stasi members and has numerous members who countinue to defend the human rights record of GDR, the rest of the parties don't.

Every party has had their Stasi-informants, and the CDU also has nominated people very recently who had vigorously defended DDR-socialism when they lived there. People who try to pin the legacy of the DDR solely on the LINKE just because it is the legal successor of the SED generally don't argue in good faith, have no real understanding of the historical life situations in Eastern Germans, or both. And I say that as a non-LINKE-voter.

They don't nominate people who were proud of working for the stasi in high level roles unlike Linkie nor do they nominate people still defend DDR socialism.

No one of serious importance in the LINKE is pro-DDR--small groups maybe do so, but the party has officially denounced the DDR a long time ago. Much of the newer leadership in the party and the parliamentary caucus has had nothing to do with the DDR. The LINKE's leadership becomes increasingly younger, is more from the west. It is silly to accuse those people of supporting the DDR.

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

It would be better to call parties by their proper name...

What are you referring to?

The post above mine, where the poster is showing a habit, he or she seems all the time, that shows him or her living more than 30 years in the past.

Now that someone has compared the LINKE to the SED, it is time for everyone's standard reminder that the CDU existed in the DDR, supported the SED government and was part of the non-democratic parliament, only became democratic in 1990, and was absorbed into the CDU of Germany - with all its former socialist personell and all it's party infrastructure.

Linkie get's sh**t because it has elected stasi members and has numerous members who countinue to defend the human rights record of GDR, the rest of the parties don't.

Every party has had their Stasi-informants, and the CDU also has nominated people very recently who had vigorously defended DDR-socialism when they lived there. People who try to pin the legacy of the DDR solely on the LINKE just because it is the legal successor of the SED generally don't argue in good faith, have no real understanding of the historical life situations in Eastern Germans, or both. And I say that as a non-LINKE-voter.

They don't nominate people who were proud of working for the stasi in high level roles unlike Linkie nor do they nominate people still defend DDR socialism.

No one of serious importance in the LINKE is pro-DDR--small groups maybe do so, but the party has officially denounced the DDR a long time ago. Much of the newer leadership in the party and the parliamentary caucus has had nothing to do with the DDR. The LINKE's leadership becomes increasingly younger, is more from the west. It is silly to accuse those people of supporting the DDR.

Those people are sympathetic to the kind of authoritarian leftism and joined the party because of it. I earlier pointed to the example of Diether Dehm hiring an unrepentant RAF terrorist who was personally responsible for the murder of multiple innocent civilians as his parliamentary assistant as one example of the ugy core inside the party that rejects liberal democracy. Linkie trying to claim it's different is no more convicng that the various far-right neo nazi parties pretending that they've changed from the old days and their new leadership is moderate.

While not every member of the party rejects liberal democracy, the social mileiau is sufficent that these people are an accepted and respected part of the party. Witness them cracking a joke about how they're going to kill 1% of german population or just mereley put them in gulags.

[😥]

Finally I took Wahl-o-mal test

And here is result:

Grüne 61.7%
SPD 53.2%
CDU/CSU 52.1%
Die Linke 50%
AfD 46.8%
FDP 43.6%

[Amanda Huggenkiss]

It would be better to call parties by their proper name...

What are you referring to?

The post above mine, where the poster is showing a habit, he or she seems all the time, that shows him or her living more than 30 years in the past.

Now that someone has compared the LINKE to the SED, it is time for everyone's standard reminder that the CDU existed in the DDR, supported the SED government and was part of the non-democratic parliament, only became democratic in 1990, and was absorbed into the CDU of Germany - with all its former socialist personell and all it's party infrastructure.

Linkie get's sh**t because it has elected stasi members and has numerous members who countinue to defend the human rights record of GDR, the rest of the parties don't.

Every party has had their Stasi-informants, and the CDU also has nominated people very recently who had vigorously defended DDR-socialism when they lived there. People who try to pin the legacy of the DDR solely on the LINKE just because it is the legal successor of the SED generally don't argue in good faith, have no real understanding of the historical life situations in Eastern Germans, or both. And I say that as a non-LINKE-voter.

They don't nominate people who were proud of working for the stasi in high level roles unlike Linkie nor do they nominate people still defend DDR socialism.

No one of serious importance in the LINKE is pro-DDR--small groups maybe do so, but the party has officially denounced the DDR a long time ago. Much of the newer leadership in the party and the parliamentary caucus has had nothing to do with the DDR. The LINKE's leadership becomes increasingly younger, is more from the west. It is silly to accuse those people of supporting the DDR.

Those people are sympathetic to the kind of authoritarian leftism and joined the party because of it. I earlier pointed to the example of Diether Dehm hiring an unrepentant RAF terrorist who was personally responsible for the murder of multiple innocent civilians as his parliamentary assistant as one example of the ugy core inside the party that rejects liberal democracy. Linkie trying to claim it's different is no more convicng that the various far-right neo nazi parties pretending that they've changed from the old days and their new leadership is moderate.

While not every member of the party rejects liberal democracy, the social mileiau is sufficent that these people are an accepted and respected part of the party. Witness them cracking a joke about how they're going to kill 1% of german population or just mereley put them in gulags.

Using Dieter Dehm as an example for an example of structural problems of the LINKE is not very convincing as the LINKE has deselected him as a parliamentary candidate for the next general election.

I am not arguing that the LINKE has no structural problems whatsoever and that it does not have a problem with radicals, but generally accusing young members of the LINKE to support authoritarianism is absolutely rediculous and displays a fundamental lack of understanding of the Schröder-government, Lafontaine and the WASG, and the development of the German party system since 2005.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Of course to most in the SPD, it is the western (and largely left) wing of Die Linke who are the most objectionable as they're a bunch of SPLITTERS.

[WMS]

I am more concerned with Die Linke’s pro-Russian, anti-NATO stance than their past failings. Supporting Vladimir Putin’s regime doesn’t exactly give one confidence in their support for democracy.

[Yeahsayyeah]

I am more concerned with Die Linke’s pro-Russian, anti-NATO stance than their past failings. Supporting Vladimir Putin’s regime doesn’t exactly give one confidence in their support for democracy.

They are clearly anti-NATO. That doesn't mean, they are "pro-Putin". The AfD on the other hand is officially pro-NATO and "pro-Putin" at the same time. And for the SPD the most important thing is, that the gas pipline through the Baltic Sea gets completed and started.

[President Johnson]

Not sure how "credible" Wahlkreisprognose is, but they had another poll out being very strong for the SPD, probably a bit too strong.

https://twitter.com/Wahlen_DE/status/1435707822893830146


What also needs some notice here is that Tuesday in her likely last Bundestag speech, Angela Merkel forcefully endorsed Laschet. Her speech was unusual partisan in contrary to her regular style that is always described as "presidential" and "above partisan politics". Most political observers characterized it as an act of desperation on part of the CDU campaign. CDU politicians including Jens Spahn tried to attack Scholz for calling vaccinated people "test rabbits" in an ironic manner (he called upon the unvaccinated to get the shot and overcome their hesitancy since the vaccinated are doing fine). However, Scholz in a subsequent Bundestag speech simply replied: "Some people obviously don't understand jokes, maybe because they don't have much to laugh looking at their polling numbers".

Additionally, Laschet is currently under fire for a police eviction of a protest camp in the Hambach Forest back in 2018, after a federal court yesterday declared the eviction - ordered by the NRW state government under his leadership - unlawful. #LaschetRuecktritt (Laschet resignation) has trended on Twitter for over a day now.

And of course, Markus Söder sort of continues his jibes toward Laschet. He just declared this weekend's TV debate as de facto last chance to turn it around. Just last Sunday he already stated that a turnaround must happen this week or the election is about to be lost.

And lastly, there's still far-right Hans-Georg Maaßen, the right-wing candidate in Thuringia, who's now picking a fight with a member of Laschet's recently presented "future team" after she indicated to support another candidate in his district. He now publically urged Laschet to remove her from the role. CDU/CSU is in full disarray.