Occasionally the grassroots are smarter than their boss. The more than 700 delegates at the CSU party congress expressed their solidarity with Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet in a way that Markus Söder could never bring himself to.
Laschet gave a solid speech in Nuremberg. He cleverly appealed to the pride of the CSU and emphasized the differences to a red-green led government, without falling too deeply into the usual crude slogans. That might have earned him more interfering applause. But the Aachener is not a tribune of the people and appears quickly put on when he tries to be.
The applause with which the candidate was already received and especially the ten minutes of applause he received for his appearance were not just dutiful.
The CSU base has signaled: We have understood that we can only win together – or lose together.
This is a clear warning to Söder. If his slightly pinched facial expression was not misleading, the CSU boss recognized that too.
Even his election result the day before, which was mediocre by Bavarian standards, was no proof of the exuberant enthusiasm for the “Chancellor candidate of the hearts”.
Of course, many in the CSU also believe that with Söder at the top, many things would be better in the Union’s election campaign. But only a few are convinced that it helps to indulge in the lost opportunity and constantly kick the top candidate in the heels.
In Bavaria they also know that the CSU’s demise in the polls began before the decision on the K question. For Söder, the well-known saying of the prophet applies in reverse. It no longer applies in one’s own country as much as it has recently outside of it.
[Wenn Sie aktuelle Nachrichten aus Berlin, Deutschland und der Welt live auf Ihr Handy haben wollen, empfehlen wir Ihnen unsere App, die Sie hier für Apple- und Android-Geräte herunterladen können.]
That’s why you can save yourself all speculation as to whether there is more to Söder’s destructive style than his political credo “Markus first”. For example, a super-refined calculation like this: If Armin likes to fail, the next Bavarian election in two years will be easier to win against a red-green-dominated federal government – and in four years my turn will be my turn.
The opposite is true.
Without the influence in Berlin, the CSU threatens to decline to a regional party. Neither could she decouple herself from the foreseeable crisis of a losing CDU. Anyone who should have believed that is being taught a lesson: the values of the CSU always follow the CDU values - for better or for worse – even in Angela Merkel’s time.
And anyone who wants to believe that a new coalition in the federal government would be ready for storm after four years and that the new partners would be tired of each other may well be believed.
The CSU is just as dependent on a Chancellor Armin Laschet as the CDU. Söder’s base got it.
