Germany: Polls close in eastern state elections, AfD set for second spot

Deutches Welle ^ | 9/1/19 | es/msh (AP, dpa)

[Redmen4ever]

Voting has ended in Saxony and Brandenburg, two states in the country's former east. Exit polls suggest that the far-right AfD will become the second biggest party in both regions.

[Redmen4ever]

The source is left. It therefore sugar-coats the exit polls so as to not trigger the snowflakes. I'll say it like it is:

Two more victories for non-socialists!

Two more times non-socialists out-perform the polls!

caution: the following is based on exit polls

Brandenburg (currently a Social Democrat-Left Party government)

Social Democrats 23% Alternative 23% Christian Democrats 16% Left Party 11% Greens 10% Free Voters 5% [*] [**] Free Democrats 5% [*] Others 4%

ASSUMING at least one of Free Voters and Free Democrats qualify, center to right parties would be able to organize this state government.

Saxony (currently a Christian Democrat-Social Democrat government)

Christian Democrats 32% Alternative 28% Left Party 11% Greens 9% Social Democrats 8% Free Democrats 5% [*] Others 8%

REGARDLESS of whether Free Democrats qualify, center to right parties can organize this state government.

[Redmen4ever]

ADDENDEM: [*] might finish below the 5% threshold
[**] might qualify by reason of finishing first in at least one district

[pepsionice]

For Saxony, AfD finished 2nd place, 27.5 percent. As for seats...they are limited to 30 because of screwed-up paperwork submitted several months ago.

For Brandenburg, AfD finished 2nd place, 22.5 percent.

The real losers in both elections: (1) Linke Party (former communist party)...took hefty losses from last election, (2) SPD Party (left of center), and CDU Party (Merkel’s right of center group).

There’s a 7-week pause before the 3rd state election of Germany occurs, in Thuringia (another eastern state). The AfD is polled to go between 20 to 25 percent. Oddly, the Linke Party is polled to do well, and win (up around 27-to-28 percent).

The basic conclusion? The AfD has yet to peak out, and the two major parties of Germany (CDU-SPD) are losing votes still to the AfD.

[Williams]

My guess is they are not “far right”.

[Sparticus]

My guess is they are not “far right”.

By American standards, they are not. By European ruling class standards Bernie Sanders is a middle of the road centrist.

[fieldmarshaldj]

My handy-dandy Newspeak media translation guide for political ideology labels:

Media labels vs. Reality:
Blue = Red
Socialist/Left-wing = Stalinist
Liberal = Marxist
Moderate/(Centrist) = Socialist
Conservative = Liberal
Far-Right = Moderate
Ultraright/Racist/Bigot = Conservative Mainstream

[Redmen4ever]

Saxony: Alternative avoided a problem with only 30 on its list, by winning 15 direct mandates.

Christian Democrats 32.1% / 45 (41);
Alternative 27.5 / 38 (15);
Left 10.4 / 14 (1);
Green 8.6 / 12 (3);
Social Democrats 7.7 / 10 (0);
Free Democrats 4.5 / 0;
Free Voters 3.4 / 0;
Others 5.8 / 0.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landtagswahl_in_Sachsen_2019

Brandenburg: the three left parties just barely eked out a win, 45 to 43 seats.

Social Democrats 26.2% / 25 (25);
Alternative 23.5 / 23 (15);
Christian Democrats 15.6 / 15 (2);
Green 10.8 / 10 (1);
Left 10.7 / 10 (0);
Free Voters 5.0 / 5 (1);
Free Democrats 4.1 / 0;
Animal Protection Party 2.6 / 0;
Others 1.5 / 0.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landtagswahl_in_Brandenburg_2019

[pepsionice]

Some upward trend for the next state election (Thuringian), in roughly seven weeks for AfD. This idea by the news journalists back in July that the big topic for this election period was climate change, has lost some respect. Fair number of Germans still on the migration and immigration topic.

[Redmen4ever]

To comment on the results: The Social Democrats lost heavily. Punished by left-of-center voters for their coalition with Christian Democrats both at the federal level and at the state level in Saxony. The Christian Democrats may want to reconsider their relation with Alternative so as to deal with the possibility of the Social Democrats withdrawing from the federal coalition.

Climate change cuts two ways: to the working class, climate change means higher electricity rates and higher cost for fuel. In addition, the all-electric car means that the family automobile has only limited range. The life-style to which the working class aspires is to be destroyed. White-collar, urban singles may think going green is fine, but not the working class.

In Denmark, the Social Democrats co-opted the populist-right on immigration and did quite well in the last election. In Germany, the Social Democrats have yet to figure out how to stop the bleeding of the working class to the populist-right.