Ampel-Angst

Yesterday was a black day for one of Germany's major parties. This time, I am not writing about the Social Democrats but about the Christian Democrats (CDU), the once-dominant party of Konrad Adenauer, Helmut Kohl, and Angela Merkel.

Distressed top Christian candidate Susanne Eisenmann (©Ulli Decke/dpa)

For long periods in the past, the CDU was the governing party in the two states, Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg; yesterday, the Christian Democrats had historically poor results of -4.1% and -2.9%, respectively.

This morning on national television:  
CDU chairman and candidate for the chancellorship, Armin Laschet
 trying to downplay the crushing defeat.

Winfried Kretschmann's Message: You know me

The elections confirmed that governors have an incumbency advantage, particularly in times of crisis. While in Rhineland-Palatinate, Ministerpräsidentin Malu Dreyer successfully defended her "red" traffic light coalition (rote Ampelkoalition)*. Ministerpräsident Winfried Kretschmann was triumphant for his Greens in the Ländle.
*Social democrats (SPD, red), the Greens, and Free Democrats (FDP, the Liberals, yellow)

Here are the results for the Ländle.

©BZ/Rita Eggstein

Yesterday, Red Baron cast his vote at the Walter-Eucken-Gymnasium (high school). Here are the results of constituency 46, Freiburg East, and Upper Black Forest:

The Greens topped their 2016 result and left Manual Herder far behind. He commented, "It was obviously not the ideal time for me to run for political office. Nevertheless, I don't want to miss a single day of this election campaign; it has allowed me many conversations and insights into our society that I would never have had otherwise. I take the result as it is." 

The Social Democrats limited their losses, the right-wing Alternative for Germany was trimmed, and the socialists, Die Linke, gained 2%. More and more splinter groups try their luck in elections, but they must individually gain at least 5% of the vote to be represented in the German parliaments. Nevertheless, all their votes amount to an impressive 6.1%.

Malu Dreyer's "red" traffic light coalition in Rhineland-Palatinate was successful. So the father of the Ländle, Winfried Kretschmann, may be tempted to opt for a grüne Ampelkoalition in Baden-Württemberg.

To take up Karl Marx's text, "A specter is haunting the Christian Democrats in Baden-Württemberg - the specter of a 'green' traffic light coalition." In fact, the CDU is full of Ampel-Angst, i.e., losing participation in the state government.

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