Merkel’s Party Is Defeated in Election in Hamburg

[Judi Lynn]

Source: New York Times

Merkel’s Party Is Defeated in Election in Hamburg
By JUDY DEMPSEY
Published: February 20, 2011

BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party suffered a major defeat on Sunday in an election in Hamburg, with preliminary results showing that the opposition Social Democrats had made big gains and would form the next government there.

According to preliminary results as reported by public television channels ARD and ZDF, Mrs. Merkel’s candidate, Christoph Ahlhaus, the incumbent, was decimated in the race for mayor of the city-state, the equivalent of the premier in other German states. Her party’s share of the vote was cut to 21 percent, from 42 percent in the 2008 elections.

The Social Democrats, led by Olaf Scholz, made a big comeback, winning slightly less than 50 percent of the vote, up from the 34 percent in 2008. If the preliminary results stand, the Social Democrats would be able to govern without having to depend on coalition partners.

It was the first of seven regional elections this year, and the conservative Christian Democrats tried to play down the results.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/world/europe/21hamburg.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

[Kingofalldems]

1. Isn't she a big favorite of republicans?

[Judi Lynn]

3. Big fave! George W. Bush can't keep his hands off her!

[Kingofalldems]

4. A big loss for republicans. Yeah!!

[Jackpine Radical]

6. The CDs are the more conservative party.

[No Elephants]

2. Yayyyyy!!!!

[pinto]

5. Good news, imo. May harbinger a buffer to Gernay's slide to the right?

:thumbsup:

[Iterate]

12. The slide to the right was a myth.

Checkout nationwide polling for the last year or so for Federal elections by the various pollsters. Generally, you see a serious loss by the right-business party FPD, slow decline by the right-center CDU-CSU, and an increase for the labor-left Greens. The center left SPD had its ups and downs as they struggled for better leadership. The Left Party, Die Linke, has been fairly steady at about 10%. It's far enough left to scare the shit out of about 1/3 of DU.

If you really want a headache, try to figure out the state elections.

Still though, the Hamburg election was about 5% - 10% better for SPD than expected, partly at the cost of some Green votes though.

Almost forgot:
http://www.spiegel.de/flash/flash-21034.html

Edit to add, for comparison, I'd place Obama a bit to the right of Merkel and the CDU on most issues.

[jmowreader]

13. Die Linke has a wild history

It started out life as the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, which was the East German Communist Party. It merged with the Electoral Alternative for Labour and Social Justice. And yeah, you're right: Die Linke is REALLY far to the left.

[iandhr]

7. Hamburg has a status of a state?

[Iterate]

9. One of sixteen Federal States

[JVS]

19. Yes. Hamburg, Bremen, and Berlin all function as their own states.

[Dawson Leery]

8. Merkel is surviving by defying the right wing "Free Democrats" (anti-labor pro monopoly).

Though a coalition partner, the CDU is at odds with their hard right ideology and has not gotten along well with them as the CDU is not going to do anything as to harm the general welfare.
To win, Merkel has been using the fear card(fear of foreigners). She won't be able to get by with the fear card forever and I look forward to her defeat.

[onehandle]

10. Sarkozy is next. Hopefully followed by Cameron. nt

[burrowowl]

14. YES!

[Turborama]

16. If I prayed, that would be the one I'd be making tonight. n/t

[Iterate]

11. For months prior to the US elections we were told Germany was moving right.

The charge was lead by the New York Times, but they were hardly alone. At that time though, polls were actually showing center-left parties climbing nation-wide, especially the Greens. After the US election, I heard no more claims about a right-hand turn for Germany.

Now we have the Greens coming in at 11% (a normal margin for them) and the SPD making one of the largest single gains in recent years. No where in the article though is an apology from the Times for the error of their prediction. Shocking.

[pampango]

15. "GERMANY’S SUPER-ELECTION year got off to a nightmare start for chancellor Angela Merkel..."

yesterday after a historic collapse in support for her Christian Democrats (CDU) in Hamburg.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/0221/1224290426311.html

The first of seven state elections this year delivered a dream result for the Social Democrats (SPD): after a decade in opposition the party took almost half the vote in Germany’s second city. Exit polls put the SPD on course for an absolute majority last night with 49.5 per cent of the vote, its best result since 1998, likely to give it 65 seats in the 121-seat parliament.

The CDU’s support halved to just 20 per cent, the worst state election result in its postwar history. Though fought almost exclusively on local issues, the Hamburg result puts pressure on the CDU nationally and weakens still further Dr Merkel’s minority position in the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat.

Detailed exit polls showed the party ran a campaign that appealed as much to Hamburg’s comfortable middle classes as its working class population. Over three-quarters of voters polled by ARD public television placed the city-state’s SPD as “centrist, not left-wing”.

At the same time, two-thirds of voters said the party under Mr Scholz “took seriously the little man’s problems”. The party’s economic policies and social justice profile were equally important to voters – 36 per cent and 35 per cent respectively.

[suffragette]

17. Good news

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,14856559,00.html

For Merkel, the result means the loss of three seats in the Bundesrat upper house of parliament, making it harder for her government to push through federal legislation.

In the last election in the northern city-state in 2008, the CDU's share of the vote was 42.6 percent, more than double Sunday's score. The drop of 22.1 percentage points was the steepest decline ever between two elections for the CDU.

The result in Hamburg, where Merkel was born, will also send a signal to voters before the other state votes, especially in the southwestern region of Baden-Württemberg where her CDU is also in danger of losing power in March.

[Arugula Latte]

18. Wunderbar!

Are you all impressed by my extensive German skills? ;)