[pepsionice]

I’ve sat around in Germany and watched the whole thing unfold since 2013.

I think the biggest shock is that the Linke Party....which often brags on it’s support for the common German working man...had probably the greatest opportunity ever imagined. They could have picked up the immigration topic...gone to oppose Merkel’s vision in various ways. They would have have taken the bulk of votes that the AfD had, and even some additional votes away from the SPD. It might have been a pretty close election between the CDU and Linke Party.

Instead, the Linke Party sat there, did mostly nothing, supported the Merkel-vision and watched jobs affected, and wages pushed back down.

[x]

I think the biggest shock is that the Linke Party....which often brags on it’s support for the common German working man...had probably the greatest opportunity ever imagined. They could have picked up the immigration topic...gone to oppose Merkel’s vision in various ways. They would have have taken the bulk of votes that the AfD had, and even some additional votes away from the SPD. It might have been a pretty close election between the CDU and Linke Party. Instead, the Linke Party sat there, did mostly nothing, supported the Merkel-vision and watched jobs affected, and wages pushed back down.

Like a lot of socialist parties nowadays, the Linke just isn't that popular with the working class.

All the more so, since whatever ties West German labor unions have are probably with the SPD, rather than with the post-Communist Linke.

It's the party activists who call the tune in the Linkspartei, and they are mostly left-wing ideologues or nostalgic East Germans.

Sahra Wagenknecht, one of the party's top leaders and someone very far to the left, did criticize Merkel's refugee policy and was savaged by the rest of the party elite.