German Elections & Politics

[Sozialliberal]

It's because of Oskar Lafontaine's popularity. Lafontaine was the state premier of Saarland from 1985 to 1998, when he was still an SPD member. He was a driving force in the creation of Die Linke. So it is seen as "Oskar's party" by many people in Saarland.

[Tender Branson]

Why are the left so strong there compared to other western states?

Because of the above-mentioned Oskar Lafontaine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oskar_Lafontaine

[RedPrometheus]

So I'm on my way now to Berlin for the nominating convention for Martin Schulz as a delegate. I wonder how many votes he'll get

[Middle-aged Europe]

New Emnid national poll (03/18)

CDU/CSU 33% (+-0)
SPD 32% (-1)
AfD 9% (+1)
Greens 8% (+1)
Left 8% (+-0)
FDP 5% (-1)

Majority for Grand coalition and Red-Red-Green.

[Representative simossad]

Martin Schulz was officially nominated as candidate for chancellor and as the new party leader of the SPD. He won 605 of 605 votes cast, and thus a result of 100%. That has never happened before in the SPD. He attacked Trump by saying: "Whoever labels free reporting as fake news, whoever deals with deals with the media selectively, applies the axe on the roots of democracy."

In his farewell speech, Gabriel indirectly endorsed Emanuel Macron for president in France by saying: "Imagine how we can change Europe if Martin Schulz becomes chancellor of Germany and Emanuel Macron becomes president of France!" Even though Hamon does not really have a chance in this race, Gabriel endorsed an independent candidate over the nominee of the SPD's sister party, which is notable IMO.

[Sozialliberal]

Martin Schulz was officially nominated as candidate for chancellor and as the new party leader of the SPD. He won 605 of 605 votes cast, and thus a result of 100%. That has never happened before in the SPD.

They should change the party name to Schulz-Partei Deutschlands!

[Middle-aged Europe]

Martin Schulz was officially nominated as candidate for chancellor and as the new party leader of the SPD. He won 605 of 605 votes cast, and thus a result of 100%. That has never happened before in the SPD.

They should change the party name to Schulz-Partei Deutschlands!

#MEGA

He's truly the God-Chancellor now.

[MAINEiac4434]

HÖHE ENERGIE

[Representative simossad]

HÖHE ENERGIE

[Zinneke]

Martin Schulz was officially nominated as candidate for chancellor and as the new party leader of the SPD. He won 605 of 605 votes cast, and thus a result of 100%. That has never happened before in the SPD. He attacked Trump by saying: "Whoever labels free reporting as fake news, whoever deals with deals with the media selectively, applies the axe on the roots of democracy."

In his farewell speech, Gabriel indirectly endorsed Emanuel Macron for president in France by saying: "Imagine how we can change Europe if Martin Schulz becomes chancellor of Germany and Emanuel Macron becomes president of France!" Even though Hamon does not really have a chance in this race, Gabriel endorsed an independent candidate over the nominee of the SPD's sister party, which is notable IMO.

Well the Socialist Minister-President of Wallonia and de facto leader was at Hamon's rally, but apart from him and Corbyn (lol) I expect the leaders of the socialist parties in Europe to model themselves off the Macron-Schulz axis of social liberalism.

Our transformation to the false dichotomous form of American democracy is almost complete.

[mvd10]

Martin Schulz was officially nominated as candidate for chancellor and as the new party leader of the SPD. He won 605 of 605 votes cast, and thus a result of 100%. That has never happened before in the SPD. He attacked Trump by saying: "Whoever labels free reporting as fake news, whoever deals with deals with the media selectively, applies the axe on the roots of democracy."

In his farewell speech, Gabriel indirectly endorsed Emanuel Macron for president in France by saying: "Imagine how we can change Europe if Martin Schulz becomes chancellor of Germany and Emanuel Macron becomes president of France!" Even though Hamon does not really have a chance in this race, Gabriel endorsed an independent candidate over the nominee of the SPD's sister party, which is notable IMO.

Well the Socialist Minister-President of Wallonia and de facto leader was at Hamon's rally, but apart from him and Corbyn (lol) I expect the leaders of the socialist parties in Europe to model themselves off the Macron-Schulz axis of social liberalism.

Our transformation to the false dichotomous form of American democracy is almost complete.

Isn't Schulz running on a fairly left-wing platform? He promised to roll back some of Agenda 2010's reforms, while Macron is running on a French version of Agenda 2010.

[Intell]

Martin Schulz was officially nominated as candidate for chancellor and as the new party leader of the SPD. He won 605 of 605 votes cast, and thus a result of 100%. That has never happened before in the SPD. He attacked Trump by saying: "Whoever labels free reporting as fake news, whoever deals with deals with the media selectively, applies the axe on the roots of democracy."

In his farewell speech, Gabriel indirectly endorsed Emanuel Macron for president in France by saying: "Imagine how we can change Europe if Martin Schulz becomes chancellor of Germany and Emanuel Macron becomes president of France!" Even though Hamon does not really have a chance in this race, Gabriel endorsed an independent candidate over the nominee of the SPD's sister party, which is notable IMO.

Well the Socialist Minister-President of Wallonia and de facto leader was at Hamon's rally, but apart from him and Corbyn (lol) I expect the leaders of the socialist parties in Europe to model themselves off the Macron-Schulz axis of social liberalism.

Our transformation to the false dichotomous form of American democracy is almost complete.

Isn't Schulz running on a fairly left-wing platform? He promised to roll back some of Agenda 2010's reforms, while Macron is running on a French version of Agenda 2010.

Yep, the comparison is stupid.

[MAINEiac4434]

Martin Schulz was officially nominated as candidate for chancellor and as the new party leader of the SPD. He won 605 of 605 votes cast, and thus a result of 100%. That has never happened before in the SPD. He attacked Trump by saying: "Whoever labels free reporting as fake news, whoever deals with deals with the media selectively, applies the axe on the roots of democracy."

In his farewell speech, Gabriel indirectly endorsed Emanuel Macron for president in France by saying: "Imagine how we can change Europe if Martin Schulz becomes chancellor of Germany and Emanuel Macron becomes president of France!" Even though Hamon does not really have a chance in this race, Gabriel endorsed an independent candidate over the nominee of the SPD's sister party, which is notable IMO.

Well the Socialist Minister-President of Wallonia and de facto leader was at Hamon's rally, but apart from him and Corbyn (lol) I expect the leaders of the socialist parties in Europe to model themselves off the Macron-Schulz axis of social liberalism.

Our transformation to the false dichotomous form of American democracy is almost complete.

Isn't Schulz running on a fairly left-wing platform? He promised to roll back some of Agenda 2010's reforms, while Macron is running on a French version of Agenda 2010.

I too was under the impression that he was running to the left of previous SPD leaders. I mean it's clear he's no Corbyn or Hamon, but that doesn't make him Macron either.

[ApatheticAustrian]

schulz is a great speaker and rages...

1) against schröder's heritage

and

2) in favor of the EU.

could work atm...we can see hope of change

[Middle-aged Europe]

I think Martin Schulz is in fact originally a Schröderite. But he's now running on a left-wing platform criticizing the Schröder government under the assumption that this is the only way he can win.

[ApatheticAustrian]

I think Martin Schulz is in fact originally a Schröderite. But he's now running on a left-wing platform criticizing the Schröder government under the assumption that this is the only way he can win.

well, gabriel did too but nobody believed him.

and gabriel was a good, populist speaker too, imho, even while his decisions as minister for economic affairs have been quite.....unpopular.

[Zinneke]

Haha no way Martin Schulz isn't a social liberal, despite what he said. The same guy who raged on about backroom deals in Europe during the spitzenkandidaten debates yet received his position because of a...backroom deal. Sorry but I won't believe a word that comes out of his mouth, unless you show me voting records to the contrary.

[ApatheticAustrian]

Haha no way Martin Schulz isn't a social liberal, despite what he said. The same guy who raged on about backroom deals in Europe during the spitzenkandidaten debates yet received his position because of a...backroom deal. Sorry but I won't believe a word that comes out of his mouth, unless you show me voting records to the contrary.

he is ofc social-liberal but why wouldn't he push back against the schröder reforms if he is able to? he risks nothing at all and would be loved.

[Tender Branson]

Latest Saarland poll (state elections on Sunday):



Changes compared with 2012 state election:

CDU: -0.2%
SPD: +2.4%
Left: -3.1%
AfD: +6.0%
FDP: +3.8%
Greens: -1.0%
Pirates: -7.4%
Others: -0.5%

[windjammer]

How arr the olds going to vote by the way?

[rob in cal]

   How likely is it that the Green vote will go down below 4% as Green voters fear just missing the 5% threshold and go en masse to SPD and Die Linke?

[Tender Branson]

How arr the olds going to vote by the way?

The olds are reliable CDU, SPD and Left voters.

Greens, FDP and AfD already do not play a major role in the overall electorate in Saarland, but their share among younger and middle-aged voters is probably higher than their overall result.

How likely is it that the Green vote will go down below 4% as Green voters fear just missing the 5% threshold and go en masse to SPD and Die Linke?

Very likely. I see the Greens going down to below 5% on Sunday, because the SPD has a good chance to win 1st place. The FDP has good chances to get above 5%.

[Tender Branson]

A new ZDF poll shows the CDU opening a 5-point lead in Saarland, ahead of the Sunday election:

[rob in cal]

    If the ZDF numbers are accurate, if you were a CDU supporter who would like to see the Grosser Coalition back in office, it might make sense to vote FDP to ensure they pass the 5% threshold, which would make a SPD-Linke majority a bit less likely.

[Tender Branson]

My prediction for the Saarland state election tomorrow:

36.1% CDU
31.6% SPD
11.8% Left
  6.3% AfD
  5.1% FDP
  4.2% Greens
  4.9% Others

Turnout: 67.5%