State Elections: Successful with "Experience Populism" - Why the AfD Reaches More People than the CDU
The AfD is managing to mobilize voters that other parties have long since lost. Experts see a strategy behind this that goes far beyond social media.
The AfD made a strong showing in this year's Landtag elections, consistently outperforming the CDU, with record numbers of votes collected by their top candidates across various regions. For instance, Leif-Erik Holm secured a record in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Kristin Brinker took the lead in Berlin, Ulrich Siegmund achieved success in Sachsen-Anhalt two weeks prior, and Jan Bollinger and Markus Frohnmaier did the same earlier in March in Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg, respectively.
Meanwhile, CDU leader Friedrich Merz acknowledges a long-standing issue for the SPD: a Volkspartei (people's party) can only truly be considered as such when it successfully reaches various groups within a society. Merz lamented this reality on Monday, stating that while they have made progress, they still fall short in many areas, both politically and regionally.
This challenge extends beyond the national level, as seen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where the CDU is no longer part of the Landtag. More broadly, young voters in Germany seem to prefer the AfD or the Left over the CDU. The CDU and SPD find themselves struggling to convince Greens and FDP members as well. The question remains: what sets the AfD apart and allows them to connect with a broader spectrum of voters?
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
