Editorial: Eine Wohlfühlpartei namens AfD
Die AfD punktet mit einer Gefühlserzählung von gestern – ökonomisch ungedeckt, aber wirksam. Die Antwort kann nur eine Zuversichtserzählung sein. Die Daten dafür sind besser als gedacht.
A perplexing question has been haunting me for days, and it is not: "How dangerous is the AfD?" No, but rather: "Why does this party feel so appealing to so many people?" To gain insight, I spent considerable time with the AfD: interviewing its chairwomen, a four-hour podcast featuring Ulrich Siegmund, their top candidate from Saxony-Anhalt, a TV debate, the state association's government program, and even their campaign film - replete with revolting scenes involving self-proclaimed "journalists" from the AfD's fringe.
The outcome was clear: Siegmund is an affable individual who occasionally strikes a sympathetic chord. However, the volume of meaningless platitudes he offers is astonishing. He repeats, "We must address the fundamental issues." True, but when it comes to specifics, he quickly withdraws. Alice Weidel, who knows more about China than most politicians in this country, fails to answer a question about the Chinese automotive market.
The two-billion-euro gap... And the government program? It contains demands that are absurd, unethical, and legally untenable: abolishing mandatory schooling; providing a welcome gift for newborns, but only if at least one parent is a German citizen; the end of the "Inclusion Experiment."
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
