2012 Elections in Germany

[batmacumba]

Isn't Wagenknecht some type of stalinist?

[Old Europe]

Isn't Wagenknecht some type of stalinist?

Officially, she's just a communist.

Lafontaine has dropped out, he and his supporters have called on Bartsch to do the same. Bartsch refuses... so far.

Meanwhile, Katja Kipping and Katharina Schwabedissen have announced a joint candidacy for the both chair(wo)man positions. This would certainly mean a distinct break from the previous leaderships of Left Party which were often dominated by old men (Schwabedissen is 39, Kipping is 34).

[batmacumba]

Isn't Wagenknecht some type of stalinist?

Officially, she's just a communist.

Lafontaine has dropped out, he and his supporters have called on Bartsch to do the same. Bartsch refuses... so far.

Meanwhile, Katja Kipping and Katharina Schwabedissen have announced a joint candidacy for the both chair(wo)man positions. This would certainly mean a distinct break from the previous leaderships of Left Party which were often dominated by old men (Schwabedissen is 39, Kipping is 34).

Is there any chance she (them) can change Die Linke onto a libertarian left/real democratic left ensamble, or is the stasi yoke uncleanable?

[ingemann]

Isn't Wagenknecht some type of stalinist?

Officially, she's just a communist.

Lafontaine has dropped out, he and his supporters have called on Bartsch to do the same. Bartsch refuses... so far.

Meanwhile, Katja Kipping and Katharina Schwabedissen have announced a joint candidacy for the both chair(wo)man positions. This would certainly mean a distinct break from the previous leaderships of Left Party which were often dominated by old men (Schwabedissen is 39, Kipping is 34).

Is there any chance she (them) can change Die Linke onto a libertarian left/real democratic left ensamble, or is the stasi yoke uncleanable?

Seeing that the old SED types are the only ones trying to compromise to get some of the party's politic through, getting rid of them would just result in Linke becoming even more irrelevant.

[Vasall des Midas]

I'm all for a Katja Kipping - Sahra Wagenknecht team for cochairs.

[Old Europe]

Klaus Ernst has just endorsed Sarah Wagenknecht for chairmanship, so your wish could still come true.

Personally, I find Kipping much hotter. Wagenknecht had always weird eyebrows and nose IMO.

[I left.]

Klaus Ernst has just endorsed Sarah Wagenknecht for chairmanship, so your wish could still come true.

Personally, I find Kipping much hotter. Wagenknecht had always weird eyebrows and nose IMO.

How about the Linke just löses itself auf and the two hot women can pursue something more useful?

[Vasall des Midas]

I don't think Oskar Lafontaine is more useful than the Linkspartei. And that's what Sahra is otherwise pursuing.

[batmacumba]

Klaus Ernst has just endorsed Sarah Wagenknecht for chairmanship, so your wish could still come true.

Personally, I find Kipping much hotter. Wagenknecht had always weird eyebrows and nose IMO.

How about the Linke just löses itself auf and the two hot women can pursue something more useful?

Well, this is Kipping's worse pic I've saw, as well the best Wagenknecht's (usually She's always with an evil grin), and even so Kipping is more attractive. But, if they chose to decide It on objectification (oh, the irony of a feminist rule becoming a pageant contest) no one could beat Bonk.
BTW, WTF this hot women concentration on Die Linke?

[Sibboleth]

These took a while, but I like to delude myself into thinking that it was worth it.

[Vasall des Midas]

That Bielefeld constituency must be a nice gerry to unite all the most "urbane" parts of the city-that-doesn't-exist. While of course Cologne actually comes out a bit of an anti-Green gerry.

[I left.]

New federal poll from Forsa:

CDU 32
SPD 27
Grüne 13
Piraten 12
Linke 6
FDP 5

[Vasall des Midas]

Katja Kipping easily beats some unknown from Hamburg for the first chairmanship position. The woman she'd originally co-announced with had previously withdrawn from the race. Showdown between Bartsch and some unknown Lafo standin from BaWü (Bernd Riexinger) expected for the second slot, tho' there may be more candidates.

[Yeahsayyeah]

Actually, Dora Heyenn is not that unknown in the Left party. She's Chairwoman of the Left Party in the Hamburg parliament. Interesting are the over 200 invalid votes. What's going on in Göttingen?

[Old Europe]

Bernd who???

Although I have to admit that this Jürgen Stange guy was hilarious. He looked and sounded almost like the German version of Jimmy McMillan. Without the gloves.

[Vasall des Midas]

Actually, Dora Heyenn is not that unknown in the Left party. She's Chairwoman of the Left Party in the Hamburg parliament.

Unknown to anyone but Hamburgers and Left Party insiders.

Just like Riexinger then (who won, fairly narrowly.)

[Tender Branson]

Following the leadership election, the Left has now dropped to 4% (below the 5% barrier for parliamentary representation):

34% CDU/CSU
32% SPD
14% Greens
  7% Pirates
  5% FDP
  4% Left
  4% Others

SPD-Greens (46%) is now tied with CDU-CSU-Pirates-FDP (46%).

[Speaker Dereich]

Following the leadership election, the Left has now dropped to 4% (below the 5% barrier for parliamentary representation):

34% CDU/CSU
32% SPD
14% Greens
  7% Pirates
  5% FDP
  4% Left
  4% Others

SPD-Greens (46%) is now tied with CDU-CSU-Pirates-FDP (46%).

Is that a possible coalition? I'd think the Pirates would be much more at home with the SDP-Green crowd.

[Old Europe]

Following the leadership election, the Left has now dropped to 4% (below the 5% barrier for parliamentary representation):

34% CDU/CSU
32% SPD
14% Greens
  7% Pirates
  5% FDP
  4% Left
  4% Others

SPD-Greens (46%) is now tied with CDU-CSU-Pirates-FDP (46%).

Is that a possible coalition? I'd think the Pirates would be much more at home with the SDP-Green crowd.

Such a coalition is not possible. But it shows that SPD and Greens are very close to a majority on their own.

[Flocke]

Berlin-Lichtenberg
Berlin-Treptow – Köpenick
Berlin-Marzahn – Hellersdorf

Those seats seem quite safe to me. So the Linke could stay in Bundestag even if they don't make the threshold. At least, that was the case before the electoral reform.

[Sibboleth]

The SPD won all the direct seats in Treptow-Köpenick in the 2011 elections, so in the event of a KPD collapse, maybe not quite so safe.

[mileslunn]

Following the leadership election, the Left has now dropped to 4% (below the 5% barrier for parliamentary representation):

34% CDU/CSU
32% SPD
14% Greens
  7% Pirates
  5% FDP
  4% Left
  4% Others

SPD-Greens (46%) is now tied with CDU-CSU-Pirates-FDP (46%).

Is that a possible coalition? I'd think the Pirates would be much more at home with the SDP-Green crowd.

Such a coalition is not possible. But it shows that SPD and Greens are very close to a majority on their own.

Is this national?  Also I kind of suspect the parties on the right will do better than the polls say.  After all in Denmark and France most polls had the left with a much bigger lead than what they got.  It was only once the election got under way the numbers closed in.

[DL]

In the UK, the Tories were supposed to win in a big landslide and Labour was supposed to be crushed, instead it ended up being a weak Tory minority and Labour suffered much milder losses than anyone expected...every time you think you have a pattern, something contrary happens. One thing that is about 99.99999% certain is that there will be no more rightwing CDU/FDP coalition in Germany aft the next election. The best Merkel can hope for is that she shifts over to a centre-left coalition with the SPD and they will get wayy more cabinet seats than the FDP currently has since they would have close to have of the combined CDU and SPD vote.

[Yeahsayyeah]

Those seats seem quite safe to me. So the Linke could stay in Bundestag even if they don't make the threshold. At least, that was the case before the electoral reform.

The "electoral reform" had no influence on the Grundmandatsklausel, that gives parties who won three constituencies full representation, even if they missed the five percent treshold.

@Comrade Sibboleth: Berlin-Treptow-Köpenick is the constituency, Gregor Gysi won twice with much more personal votes than votes for the Left Party list. As long as Gysi stands there, it should be safe.

[Peter the Lefty]

In the UK, the Tories were supposed to win in a big landslide and Labour was supposed to be crushed, instead it ended up being a weak Tory minority and Labour suffered much milder losses than anyone expected...every time you think you have a pattern, something contrary happens. One thing that is about 99.99999% certain is that there will be no more rightwing CDU/FDP coalition in Germany aft the next election. The best Merkel can hope for is that she shifts over to a centre-left coalition with the SPD and they will get wayy more cabinet seats than the FDP currently has since they would have close to have of the combined CDU and SPD vote.

Lol if the SPD agrees to that then can there be any doubt that they will be drubbed massively in 2017?