German Elections & Politics

[Beezer]

Interesting north-south divide. What's the explanation behind it?

[Beezer]

AfD 2nd strongest party in East Germany:

[Beezer]

CDU not looking too good in the latest ZDF poll:

[Beezer]

CDU with its worst "Deutschlandtrend" showing since Oct 2011, SPD with its worst result ever.

[Beezer]

Latest Emnid poll has the AfD at 14% (record high for them) and the CDU at 32% (worst result in around 4 years). I guess the party conference hasn't really hurt the party. Ultimately this signals a tremendous shift in German politics. Parties such as the AfD can now be openly right-wing populist like their brethren in France, NL, or Austria. Remarkable...

[Beezer]

[Beezer]

Berlin shaping up to be an interesting election with 4 parties essentially tied:

[Beezer]

And another record low for the SocDems...

[Beezer]

Don't see what the problem is. The leader of the German Muslim Council thinks he's entitled to change the AfD program as he sees fit and simultaneously link the party to Hitler and the Holocaust. There really is no basis for discussion there.

[Beezer]

Don't see what the problem is. The leader of the German Muslim Council thinks he's entitled to change the AfD program as he sees fit and simultaneously link the party to Hitler and the Holocaust. There really is no basis for discussion there.

Well, everyone is entitled to say the truth. Sorry if that triggers you.

I know the words "fascist" and "Nazi" are thrown around by the left like they're going out of business but it would suit you and your ilk well to take a step back and look at what you are actually saying when you're accusing the AfD of being a Third Reich party. You are implying that the AfD advocates or would at least tacitly support the murder/forced deportation of 4 million Muslims in Germany. Think about that for a moment. That is a ridiculous charge. As a matter of fact I think anyone making such a claim should get their ass sued for libel. The AfD is right to take such an uncompromising stance on the issue. It's time to stop the casual accusation of perfectly decent people as Nazis.

[Beezer]

Don't see what the problem is. The leader of the German Muslim Council thinks he's entitled to change the AfD program as he sees fit and simultaneously link the party to Hitler and the Holocaust. There really is no basis for discussion there.

Well, everyone is entitled to say the truth. Sorry if that triggers you.

I know the words "fascist" and "Nazi" are thrown around by the left like they're going out of business but it would suit you and your ilk well to take a step back and look at what you are actually saying when you're accusing the AfD of being a Third Reich party. You are implying that the AfD advocates or would at least tacitly support the murder/forced deportation of 4 million Muslims in Germany. Think about that for a moment. That is a ridiculous charge. As a matter of fact I think anyone making such a claim should get their ass sued for libel. The AfD is right to take such an uncompromising stance on the issue. It's time to stop the casual accusation of perfectly decent people as Nazis.

Well, they are ready to shot any Muslim getting near the border. It's barely a step further.

What's the point in having a discussion when you either clearly don't know sh*t about the whole "border protection" incident or are just trolling? The interviewer practically asked Petry "laws regarding the protection of Germany's border include using armed force as a last resort (after all border police officers do carry guns), do you agree with that?" Petry's affirmative answer was then recast by the media as "OMFG, Petry wants to massacre migrant babies at the border."

[Beezer]

Don't see what the problem is. The leader of the German Muslim Council thinks he's entitled to change the AfD program as he sees fit and simultaneously link the party to Hitler and the Holocaust. There really is no basis for discussion there.

Well, everyone is entitled to say the truth. Sorry if that triggers you.

I know the words "fascist" and "Nazi" are thrown around by the left like they're going out of business but it would suit you and your ilk well to take a step back and look at what you are actually saying when you're accusing the AfD of being a Third Reich party. You are implying that the AfD advocates or would at least tacitly support the murder/forced deportation of 4 million Muslims in Germany. Think about that for a moment. That is a ridiculous charge. As a matter of fact I think anyone making such a claim should get their ass sued for libel. The AfD is right to take such an uncompromising stance on the issue. It's time to stop the casual accusation of perfectly decent people as Nazis.

when the platform says "islam does not belong to germany", what exactly do you think that entails?

I'd say there are a variety of different positions that you can take between "Islam is a part of Germany" (as claimed by the former president) and "gas all Muslims." This part of the platform IMO is just a response to the aforementioned claim by various politicians about Islam being a part of Germany. Personally, I think they could have avoided phrasing it like that because some people see it in a vacuum and immediately jump to conclusions instead of recognizing it as the mere counterpoint that it actually is. The inherent problem has always been that the folks who claim that Islam is a part of Germany don't actually expand on that assertion. Is it part of our culture? If yes, what are the Islamic elements of contemporary German culture aside from döner kebab? Or are we just referring to the simple fact that Muslims are living in Germany, hence Islam is a part of Germany just as is the case with Buddhism, Shinto etc.?

So as long as their platform fails to call for the expulsion/murder of Muslims, I'd appreciate if people refrained from comparing the party to the NSDAP.

[Beezer]

I've already stated that the sentence "Islam is not a part of Germany" is as vague as the initial "Islam is a part of Germany" comment. That's the crux of the matter. Are we talking about Islam being an integral part of German culture? If that's what Wulff meant with his initial comment, then the AfD reply is just stating the obvious - our cultural foundations have nothing whatsoever to do with Islam. We are living in a country shaped by Christianity, the enlightenment and all sorts of other things...but most definitely not Islam. Are we talking about Muslims being a part of German society? Then the AfD's assessment is obviously wrong. At the same time this means that we can also claim "Japanese culture is part of Germany" based on the sizable Japanese community present in Düsseldorf and the love some Germans have for manga. I'd argue though that this isn't really what Wulff and others have been getting at.

But I'm not the AfD's spokesperson. It's pretty obvious though if you look at the party's program that it's not advocating the large scale massacre of Muslims and that this single sentence can be seen as a retort to others who see Islam as an integral part of contemporary German culture. So let's stop having a discussion on the basis that this tiny little sentence somehow can be interpreted as a call for genocide. If someone says American culture is having a detrimental impact on Europe, nobody would argue said person is calling for the expulsion of all Americans from Europe.

[Beezer]

Latest INSA-poll, compared to results from March 31, 2015 when the CDU reached an all-time high of 43%

Union: 30 (-13)
SPD: 19 (-5)
AfD: 15 (+11)
Green: 13 (+3)
Left: 9.5 (+0.5)
FDP: 8 (+4)

[Beezer]

Are you satisfied with Merkel's/Seehofer's work?



Are you satisfied with Merkel's refugee policy?

[Beezer]

[Beezer]

Looking at this my guess is that some on the red-green left may migrate to the SPD to keep them in first place and ensure the SPD-state premier stays in power. AfD should come in second considering that they've been underpolled in recent state elections. They got 19% in the last Saxony-Anhalt poll before the election (where they wound up getting 24%).

[Beezer]

[Beezer]

Well, the CDU got 23 percent in the last election so the final result will in all likelihood not be all that bad. The SPD will wind up as the strongest party which it'll interpret as a strong signal that people still love social democracy.

[Beezer]

Definitely within striking distance to come in first in Mecklenburg-W Pommerania

SPD 28
AfD 23
CDU 20
Left 15
Greens 6
NPD 2
FDP 2

http://www.wahlrecht.de/umfragen/landtage/mecklenburg-vorpommern.htm

[Beezer]

I suppose with each good result, voicing your support for the AfD becomes less of a socially undesirable act hence polling may get more accurate. Still, relegating the CDU into third place would be quite an achievement.

[Beezer]

Merkel's popularity at a 5-year low:



Job approval of the Merkel administration:



If you could directly elect the chancellor, who would you choose?

[Beezer]

I suppose it also has to do with Gabriel being seen as a hothead and not as someone who's particularly statesmanlike.

[Beezer]

Turnout at 2 pm: 32.8% (w/o postal ballots). 2011: 29.8% .

[Beezer]

Requested postal ballots in Schwerin (state capital):

2011:   8,952
2016: 12,431
https://twitter.com/Wahlrecht_de/status/772425636136808448