German federal election, 2006
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  German federal election, 2006
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Poll
Question: Sorry about the wait!  Was wondering if I should continue the series or not.
#1
United Left
 
#2
The Greens
 
#3
Social Democratic Party of Germany
 
#4
Free Democratic Party
 
#5
Liberal Alliance of Germans
 
#6
Christian Democratic Union
 
#7
Christian Social Union
 
#8
German National Bloc
 
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Partisan results

Total Voters: 54

Author Topic: German federal election, 2006  (Read 1929 times)
Peter the Lefty
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« on: February 06, 2014, 02:34:44 PM »
« edited: February 06, 2014, 03:22:32 PM by Peter the Lefty »

      The 2002 election gave perhaps the most shocking results in the history of the Federal Republic.  The NPD managed to surge to 12.5% of the vote, shocking Germans and the rest of the world alike.  Polish armed forces were put on a low-level alert, and Eastern Europe went into a state of panic.  France also expressed fear and outrage at all of the Germans who had voted for the Neo-Nazi party.  
      The Greens gained a significant number of votes from the VL most likely due to a perception that the Green position on Afghanistan was sufficiently pacifist, and that a large VL had proven a destabilizing factor within many left-wing coalition governments dependent upon it for support in the Bundestag.  The LBD was virtually unchanged.  
      The SPD gained a few votes from the FDP, due purely, it seems, to Schröder's level of charisma, which far outmatched that of Mathaus-Maier.  Moreover, it had appeared that Schröder had been the one who had lead the moderate center-left bloc of the SPD and FDP out of the Muller government and into a coalition lead by Bruderle, which most supporters of both the SPD and the FDP believed was the right move.
      Merkel's CDU remained largely unchanged in terms of its result.  The CSU, on the other hand, suffered major losses, as the vast majority of its former DRU electorate now switched to the NPD, which now made sweeping gains in both the East and the West.  

      The result had a particular sting to it, as it came only a week before French neo-fascist Jean-Marie Le Pen's unexpected but easy second-place finish in the first round of his country's Presidential election against conservative incumbent Jacques Chirac.  It appeared that fascism was rising across Europe, and the threat of a fascist takeover in Germany was particularly frightening.  In France, Le Pen's advancement into the second round had been one thing; in Germany, even if the NPD's vote share was less than that of Le Pen, the German Neo-Nazis now had parliamentary representation, while the FN did not.  Through this representation, the NPD would now have greater visibility (and ability to complicate the parliamentary process).  It was generally agreed that Le Pen was helped by the NPD's success in Germany.  Whether or not he would still have advanced to the second round had the German election not been held a week before the first would forever remain a matter of historical debate.  
      The SPD and FDP decided to go back to a coalition with the Greens this time.  The threat of a Neo-Nazi takeover created a general consensus among the center-left that a reduction of German military involvement anywhere in the world was in order.  As former Chancellor Egon Bahr put it, the German military "must be downsized to the most basic level of defense, for the sake of Europe, the world, and Germany itself.  Should National Socialism ever return to the helm in Germany, we must not allow them to inherit the resources with which to wreak havoc upon the rest of Europe and the world before our neighbors can prepare for it."  The VL was prepared to join in Müller's new government in order to contribute to the stability thereof, and the first left-wing majority government since that of Brandt was formed.  
      Müller began a massive downsizing of the Bundeswehr and of the German presence in Afghanistan, with the goal being a withdrawal by December of 2003.  She also joined with French President Jacques Chirac in opposing American and British efforts to win a UN-backed resolution authorizing military force in Iraq.  After U.S. President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair launched the invasion in spite of the lack of a UN mandate, it was Chirac and Müller who lead the Western opposition to the war.  The Anglo-American Alliance only found military support from the Australians, as most of the European powers who diplomatically supported the war (such as Italy and Poland) were keeping their troops home in order to remain prepared for the worst in Europe.  
      On economic matters, little changed throughout the entire era of the Green-lead coalition government.  The SPD had clearly moved economically to the right, and the FDP was beginning to move with it, but no one had the stomach for any coalition infighting at such a sensitive time.  Still, the economy began to go into free-fall due to plummeting investor confidence.  The NPD was kicked out of parliament multiple times for verbal assaults upon members of the Bundestag of non-Western European immigrant background (as well as those of non-heterosexual orientation).  New government investigations against the party also began, with the intent of proving a connection to violent far-right groups.  
      In 2005, the NPD was dissolved by a high court order.  The NPD members in the Bundestag, however, continued to sit as independents, and within months, a new right-wing nationalist party called the German National Bloc was formed, and literally every single formerly NPD MP joined it.  
      With Germany's military now reduced to the absolute minimal level of self-defense, and with German troops out of Afghanistan, Müller's government was given a boost by the lack of chemical weapons discovered in Iraq, and by the general laughability of the Bush administration by the time of the next election.  
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Peter the Lefty
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« Reply #1 on: February 06, 2014, 02:35:38 PM »
« Edited: February 06, 2014, 03:26:16 PM by Peter the Lefty »

      Alliance '90/The Greens are running on a platform of continued clampdowns on the Neo-Nazi underground world through police investigations and aggressive action against confirmed fascist groups.  It is also running on continued support for the environment, the phase-out of nuclear energy, the legalization of same-sex marriage, and strong support for the welfare state.  Müller is once again the party's candidate for Chancellor.  Anti-bullying initiatives in schools in order to protect students with different religious or ethnic background, or with different sexual orientations, from bullying.  As Müller puts it, "stopping fascism is most critical in the early ages."  An anti-Bush administration foreign policy is also supported, in addition to socialist cooperatives at home with specific focuses on including workers of all backgrounds within them.
      The Liberal Alliance of Germans (LBD) is running Guido Westerwelle for the Chancellory again.  Westerwelle has recently come out of the closet as gay, citing "personal shame" as his reason for staying in the closet (and opposing gay rights measures) for so long.  He has stated that he now fully supports adoption by same-sex couples, as well as gay marriage (though he has not made it a major issue).  The main themes of Westerwelle's campaign are, once again, deregulation, tax cuts, spending reductions, an end to state subsidies for workers' cooperatives, and a liberal immigration policy in spite of the rise of neo-Nazism, which Westerwelle says "must be fought with all measures possible."  
      The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is running with Angela Merkel as its main candidate once again.  Merkel is running on a platform of "the conservatism of the center," which she calls "the only way to secure a victory over the menace of fascism."  Her party has accepted same-sex civil unions, but still opposes adoption by same-sex couples.  Still, she is not making a major issue out of it.  She is also proposing tax cuts and deregulations, but is still stating that a "social" element to the state must be maintained at a time when Nazism looms so large.  She also has moved away from her pro-Bush foreign policy to a degree, but still believes that "more can be done to improve ties with Washington, even if we disapprove of their current administration."  She also states that more efforts should be made to encourage immigrants to learn German and integrate themselves in German society, but she is adamant in stating that she is not trying to justify the positions of the far-right.
      The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) is running with Vice-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder as its leading candidate once again.  The party is still running on a Third Way platform, calling for certain business and banking deregulations combined with strong investment in public services.  Schröder is also supporting many of Muller's proposals for anti-bullying initiatives in schools, and for an anti-Bush administration foreign policy.  The party supports the status quo on gay rights, but there does appear to be a fair amount of pro-SSM dissent within the social democratic ranks.  
      The German National Bloc (DNB) has been founded essentially as a successor to the NPD after a court order banned the party.  The new group has elected Udo Voigt as its leader, making its continuity with the old party quite blatant.  The group is calling for the deportation of all persons within Germany with a Middle-Eastern background.  It is also calling for an end to "the degradation of German national pride through Holocaust education programs," the legalization of Holocaust denial, the recriminalization of homosexuality, the reconquest of the formerly German territories now in Western Poland, Anschluss with Austria, and a Western European nationalist foreign policy.  
      The Christian Social Union (CSU) is now lead by the right-wing Hesse Premier Roland Koch, who became known for xenophobic campaigning in Hesse himself.  He is also calling for much stricter laws against asylum seekers and for "language proficiency" requirements for those hoping to become naturalized German citizens.  The CSU's campaign is very law-and-order in style.  Koch is also vaguely running on "traditional social values," though he has curiously avoided singling out gay rights as a major issue.  He has called the "social experimentation and openness" of the past few decades the reason for the recent rise of Nazism.  On economics, he is about as right-wing as Westerwelle.
      The Free Democratic Party (FDP) is now lead by Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, who is making defense of the Federal Republic against fascism the top priority of the campaign.  Championing multiculturalism, tolerance, and inclusion, Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger is promising to push harder for anti-fascist crackdowns as well as for a banning of the new DNB.  Continued center-left economic policies are also backed, in addition to environmental protection and an anti-Bush foreign policy.  Same-sex marriage is also supported by the party now, though it has not made a major issue out of it.
      The United Left (VL) is also stressing the perils posed by the rise of fascism, and is calling for the implementation of full democratic socialism as a result.  Tobias Pflüger and Halina Wawzyniak are co-leading the campaign.  Same-sex marriage, anti-bullying efforts, the turnover of all industries to co-operative entities, staunch environmental protection, and tough police efforts to combat fascism are all backed, in addition to withdrawal from NATO and an anti-U.S. foreign policy.  
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traininthedistance
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« Reply #2 on: February 06, 2014, 03:11:42 PM »

Well, as usual, the FDP and the Greens are head and shoulders above the other parties here.  FDP narrowly over the Greens because I'm not an anti-nuke fundamentalist.
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Cassius
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« Reply #3 on: February 06, 2014, 03:44:23 PM »

CSU as usual.
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H. Ross Peron
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« Reply #4 on: February 06, 2014, 07:07:38 PM »

SPD as usual
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Lief 🗽
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« Reply #5 on: February 06, 2014, 07:15:49 PM »

German National Bloc. Let's burn this Mutterficker down. Cool
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Deus Naturae
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« Reply #6 on: February 06, 2014, 07:29:07 PM »

LBD
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Vosem
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« Reply #7 on: February 06, 2014, 07:31:58 PM »

Since the National Bloc seems to be gaining, I will be heading in the opposite direction and supporting the United Left at this election.
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Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends
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« Reply #8 on: February 06, 2014, 07:52:16 PM »


Also, thanks for continuing this!
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Donerail
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« Reply #9 on: February 06, 2014, 08:59:02 PM »

Damn, this'll be a fun session. DNB-VL coalition anyone?
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Goldwater
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« Reply #10 on: February 06, 2014, 09:14:20 PM »

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hawkeye59
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« Reply #11 on: February 07, 2014, 08:23:47 AM »

So…grand coalition to prevent the Nazis?
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Snowstalker Mk. II
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« Reply #12 on: February 07, 2014, 11:14:13 AM »

German National Bloc. Let's burn this Mutterficker down. Cool
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Kushahontas
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« Reply #13 on: February 07, 2014, 02:51:59 PM »

Bloc proudly
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Franknburger
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« Reply #14 on: February 11, 2014, 10:18:27 AM »

Voted Green, as usual, though I miss an ecological tax reform - increased taxation of fossil fuels, with the revenue used to cover certain healthcare and pension expenses (especially related to maternity, and environment-induced diseases), thereby reducing employers' and employees' social security contributions.

Some more voters are urgently needed to block the Bloc!

Otherwise, don't forget in your 2010 sequence to mention the impact of Germany winning the 2006 Soccer World Cup played there [greetings to Phil, should he be reading this Cool ]
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Franknburger
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« Reply #15 on: February 14, 2014, 11:56:08 AM »

Thought this needs to be put here as well:

Man, wussing out on the German series just when it got interesting? Tongue
Yes, since I'm not up for writing up a tl whose course is determined by people who are, at this point, troll-voting.

My respect and understanding for your decision, Peter!
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