2013 Elections in Germany

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The leaders of the Greens know this as well, of course, which is why it won't happen.

Said LibDem supporters before the last UK election.

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So, Steinbruck is basically a joke candidate?

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Probably a silly question, but I'm assuming that Die Linke has some safe direct seats in the former GDR, so do they really need 5%?

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Oh Ed

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What a bizarre thing for it to come out 30 years after the fact.

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Why would there not be a coalition of left-wing parties (i.e. SPD-Grüne-Linke) ?

The Linke is the continuing Communist Party of the GDR (from what I gather) and nobody outside of the leftist strongholds in the East wants to be at all associated with the Linke - poor connotations, etc.

Die Linke would probably call the SPD (and certainly the Greens) too bourgeois for their liking anyway.

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When you're that far ahead and your opponent's numbers are in the toilet, you don't need attacks.

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Would AfD getting in make CDU-CSU-FDP basically impossible?

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Is there any form of "Vote Linke, get Angela" sentiment now as well after 2009?

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Them SPD posters are a lot like the Tory "I've never voted Tory before, but..." posters from here in 2010. Far too easy to parody.

http://mydavidcameron.com/tory

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("Selbstbediener" is somewhat hard to translate correctly... the best I can do is "Chronicly Greedy/Corrupt Union").

As a Norwegian, I'm guessing the word Selbstdiener would mean someone who only serves themselves, or similar.

In British English, a 'shyster' basically, I'm assuming.

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So what you're actually saying is that you want to see FPTP introduced in Germany.

Yes, that's indeed what I propose. As long as you have proportional representation, the establishment of splinter groups is encouraged. But install FPTP and you'll see how fast SPD, Greens and Pirates would overcome their mutual reservations.

Um, no.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_general_election,_1983

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Angela Merkel is popular.

She'd be reelected Chancellor under any electoral system and she'd be reelected even if the SPD and the Greens merged tomorrow.

That's politics. Sometimes your side loses and if you're on the German left, a lot of the time your side loses.

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And you're the very reason why SPD is in decline.

Ok, I admit it. It's been me the whole time. Next, I'll ruin the Greens.

But seriously, the underlying reason for the SPD's decline is that the very idea of Social Democracy has come to an end. It achieved most of its objectives in the 1970s, and this was when its downfall began. The short boom of the 1990s was no longer fueled by social democratic, but by neoliberal ideas.

Today, there is nobody left who'd vote for a social democratic party: The industrial working class has almost diappeared; the welfare dependent proletarians have stopped voting at all; the rich vote conservative or liberal, and if they are culturally leftist, they vote green.

That's why I'd prefer a merger into a broader, more loosely defined "left" movement, structurally akin to the American Democrats. On it's own, the SPD will soon vanish, that's a given.

Unlikely, they'll just change to suit the times, as all large parties do.

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Merkel blames Schroder for allowing Greece's EU admission back in 2001.

Wow.

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Low expectations. See: Obama/Romney 1st debate.

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"How would you react, if after the election the Greens for lack of alternatives enter a coalition with the CDU?"

That'd be a gift, wouldn't it?

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Could Merkel be too boring? I disagree with this premise.

What's wrong with boring?
I don't know much about German politics, but I do know about Merkel's leadership during the Euro crisis, and it has been quite good, particularly from the German perspective.

Boring's easily spun as competent, calm and clever if you're a good politician, which Merkel obviously is.

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Spiegel article on Steinbruck's campaign.

Again bullsh**t by the mainstream media. The truth is: It was the media themselves who killed Steinbrück.

When he was nominated, he was the second-most popular politician of the nation, and the only one who seemed to have a chance against Merkel. The media, supporting Merkel unconditionally, sensed this real quick, and so the slaughter began. Steinbrück was lambasted in a way that still makes me cringe.

Funnily enough, their only real argument was that he'd made money by giving speeches. But according to the media depiction, Steinbrück was suddenly responsible for everything bad in this world. Seriously, I expected them to "prove" that he had also been responsible for the Black Death and World War II.

This went on for almost two months, during which there was no other issue than "Steinbrück is so bad". When the hustle was over, he was finished, dead in the water. Could as well have ended his campaign by then. Mind you, this was before he even had a chance to make any "gaffes".

The Romney defense.

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Forgive me if this answer has already been explained, but how come there won't be a SPD/Green/The Left coalition? I know that the SPD has ruled it out, but why?

Die Linke are toxic. Associated with the GDR, etc.

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Status of coalition talks:

CSU doesn't want to govern with the Greens, parts of the SPD don't want to govern with the CDU. Nobody wants to do Red-Red-Green except for the Left.

Does Germany do minority government?