At the beginning of this year, it still seemed possible. The leader of the German Greens party, Annalena Baerbock, had a chance to become the successor of retiring Chancellor Angela Merkel.
In the meantime, the party has fallen to third place in the polls: they fluctuate between 15 and 20 percent. And that while climate remains the main theme during the elections on September 26, especially after the floods that ravaged the country in July. The party struggles with the question: how do you pull voters from the middle without losing your traditional supporters?
Moderate rate
In the state of Baden-Württemberg, adopting a moderate green course is a tried and tested recipe. For more than ten years, a Green Prime Minister has been at the helm: Winfried Kretschmann. A ‘Realpolitiker’, who has an eye for both the climate and the interests of the industry.
There is no escaping this either: Baden-Württemberg is the birthplace of major car brands such as Daimler and Porsche and supplier Bosch. Kretschmann has been working remarkably smoothly in a coalition with the CDU for five years.
This could be a blueprint for how the Greens want to go about it in Berlin. The party makes no secret of the fact that they want to rule: preferably with the SPD, but also with the CDU. And yes, that includes compromises, says second man of the party, Robert Habeck at a campaign rally in Stuttgart.
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