2013 Elections in Germany

[Hifly]

Having been in Hamburg this Summer until last week, I can say that AfD and FDP are winning the poster wars. There are AfD signs almost everywhere- Prof. Dr. Jörn Kruse certainly is ambitious to make himself known. At Isemarkt, a tomato farmer also handed me an AfD leaflet while complaining about the influence of large corporations.

[MaxQue]

"Each family is different. And of special importance to us" (CDU - together successful).

Doesn't look like a very 'different' family to me.

It's different. The man cooks! How he dares not leaving all the household chores to his woman, as any traditionnal man?

[ERvND]

The AfD's slogan "Mut zur Wahrheit" (loosely translated as "Courage under fire") is an allusion to a popular right-wing conspiracy theory. According to this theory, the entire German society is controlled and restrained by leftist-liberal media and a leftist opinion leadership which makes it impossible or even illegal to utter deviant, "politically incorrect" opinions. Those who still dare to do it - like the AfD - are, of course, persecuted and oppressed heroes of the freedom of speech.

You have to concede, on the other hand, that the extent of right-wing populism within the AfD is relatively moderate. Naturally, all those professors and doctors know their German history and are aware that they can't go too far; but it's also a zeitgeist phenomenon. During the last decade, the German society underwent an important transition. It has actually (see above) become more liberal, open and tolerant. Right wing populism doesn't work as well as it used to. Ten or fifteen years ago, a party like the AfD would have orchestrated a brutal carnage of xenophobia, Europe-bashing and maybe even racisms/antisemitism. Not any more. The electorate has changed, and has mostly stopped falling for this sh**t.      

[Zanas]

"Each family is different. And of special importance to us" (CDU - together successful).

Doesn't look like a very 'different' family to me.

It's different. The man cooks! How he dares not leaving all the household chores to his woman, as any traditionnal man?

Came here to post exactly that. \(^.^)/

[Filuwaúrdjan]

German election billboards seem easy enough to make: take a stock photo, add a party logo somewhere, and then attach a corny partisan message of some kind.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

German election billboards seem easy enough to make: take a stock photo, add a party logo somewhere, and then attach a corny partisan message of some kind.

Indeed. Those posters sort of amplifies the stereo-type of strict humourless Germans very well.

This is what an election poster is suppouse to look like:

[Franknburger]

German election billboards seem easy enough to make: take a stock photo, add a party logo somewhere, and then attach a corny partisan message of some kind.

In fact, you sometimes don't even need a photo. These are for the Bibliophiles: Social science teachers of all countries, unite!



"Revolution? No, just going with the times: 10 Euro legal minimum wage immediately, 1050 Euro minimum pension, introduce millionaire tax, energy and rent payable for everyone, basic income instead of Hartz IV, ban arms exports!"



"Sharing is fun: Millionaire-tax!"

"The East votes red. Sure!"

"Don't wait any longer! Abolish two-class medicine!"

[minionofmidas]

I certainly haven't seen a single AfD poster in Frankfurt or Bad Vilbel. Pirates don't seem to be fully up yet around here, either. I've seen this thing (in a different, top-to-bottom, format) though.

[minionofmidas]

RIP Lothar Bisky.

[Tender Branson]

German election billboards seem easy enough to make: take a stock photo, add a party logo somewhere, and then attach a corny partisan message of some kind.

Indeed. Those posters sort of amplifies the stereo-type of strict humourless Germans very well.

This is what an election poster is suppouse to look like:

I think the old posters are much better anyway:



"So that this ain't thy destiny - Vote ÖVP."

[minionofmidas]

and why is this one hosted mostly on far-right sites nowadays, I wonder...

[Tender Branson]

Because today seems to be poster-posting day, I have some more:



We demand atonement !



Vote Gleißner !


 
Suffering and need reign wherever the ÖVP dictates. Defend yourself ! Vote SPÖ !

[Franknburger]

You don't have to get nostalgic (even though the old CDU posters are great).

Retro is also on offer this year:


Their homepage is a bit anachronistic - posters only available zipped for download, so this beautiful motive is only available via street photograph:
 

[minionofmidas]

I love it.

[Middle-aged Europe]

German election billboards seem easy enough to make: take a stock photo, add a party logo somewhere, and then attach a corny partisan message of some kind.

I suppose if they were anything else than that someone would almost certainly be offended by something which would in turn lead to huge amount of shallow public outrage.

[minionofmidas]

a stock photo

Or a politician's head, of course. For CDU and SPD, the local candidates usually have to go without any kind of identifying slogan at all. Just their name, their ugly mug, and a party logo (with perhaps some mini-slogan next to it that's on most of their posters.)

[minionofmidas]

Of course, the Greens didn't use actual people, ever, like Islamic art, until about 1994.



Still beautiful. It's so... classico.



Bizarre. And also from 1980. Beuys was a founding member, of course.

[Middle-aged Europe]

I guess I'm going to post the Green Party's attack posters of this season:




"It's always other people's fault."




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




"I don't find the "you" in CDU."




"Against Black-Yellow export hits."




"Who here is reponsible for the climate?"




"Against life-span extension" (a play on nuclear power, since life-span extension is usually used with regards to nuclear power plants)




(A play on both the movie "Black Hawk Down" and and the Euro Hawk scandal in which defense minister Thomas de Maiziere is currently involved.)

[minionofmidas]

Second to last post, previous page. (Though I didn't include all of them.)

[Middle-aged Europe]

Second to last post, previous page. (Though I didn't include all of them.)

My mistake.

[Franknburger]

German election billboards seem easy enough to make: take a stock photo, add a party logo somewhere, and then attach a corny partisan message of some kind.

I suppose if they were anything else than that someone would almost certainly be offended by something which would in turn lead to huge amount of shallow public outrage.

You mean, like with this poster from 2009:


"The only reason to choose/elect black"

[minionofmidas]

http://www.bundeswahlleiter.de/de/bundestagswahlen/BTW_BUND_13/zugelassene_parteien/BW13_Parteireihenfolge.pdf

Ballot order by state (Z - list; black-on-white E - direct candidates in all constituencies, white-on-black E - direct candidate in at least one constituency, "andere KW" - diverse independent candidates)

[Franknburger]

The holiday season is gradually coming to an end, and the "hot phase" of campaigning begins:
 
- Angela Merkel has volunteered as high school teacher, enlightening a school class in Berlin on life in the former GDR, That's probably the closest she will ever get to taxi-driving....
 
- Her Chief of Staff, Pofalla, has, after a failed attempt to blame everything on former SPD Minister of Foreign Affairs, Steinmeier, now officially declared the whole affair on German cooperation with the NSA to be finished. I am not sure this will be the last thing we hear from the affair. Steinmeier -understandably- seems pretty pissed and will probably have a few more comments...

- CSU head and Bavarian PM Seehofer has for the x-th time called for introducing a toll on foreign passenger cars that are using German motorways (a little bit of Austrian-bashing is obviously still expected to thrill the Bavarian electorate). Leading SPD and Grüne politicians have for the y-th time reminded Seehofer that such a toll is not permitted under EU regulation (yawn..).

- The main headline, however, is that the Mainz central railway station has to be temporarily closed due to understaffing of the regional network control centre (8 out of 15 control staff are currently on holiday or ill). Another blow for Minister of Transport Ramsauer (CSU)  after the Stuttgart 21, Berlin-Brandenburg airport, and Kiel Canal closure disasters.
While such transport-related issues typically don't have much of a national impact, they can significantly influence local voting in the areas concerned. Berlin (5% swing from SPD to Greens after the airport mess has become obvious) and Schleswig-Holstein (substantial CDU losses in this Spring's local elections in areas affected by the Kiel Canal closure and the controversial Fehmarnbelt link) are points in case. Considering that the Rhein-Main region, of which Mainz forms part,  contains some 5% of the total German population, this affair might cost the CDU 2-3 decimals, which is not insignificant in a close election.
[Midas, what impact do you think the Mainz station closure will have on the Rhein-Main region's vote ?]

[Tender Branson]

- CSU head and Bavarian PM Seehofer has for the x-th time called for introducing a toll on foreign passenger cars that are using German motorways (a little bit of Austrian-bashing is obviously still expected to thrill the Bavarian electorate). Leading SPD and Grüne politicians have for the y-th time reminded Seehofer that such a toll is not permitted under EU regulation (yawn..).

I would not be opposed to a toll for foreign cars on Bavarian motorways (especially Austrian cars), if ...

... in turn we can introduce 2000€ tuition fees for German students that crowd our universities

[minionofmidas]

Is the Bahn privatization considered technically dead? Because if it isn't, this is a pretty good coffin nail. Problem is that that's a Schröder-Kohl policy. More "they're all the same and completely useless, not counting the parties that have no deek at power and the tv emotes do not really count".
I'm thinking ~60% turnout by now.