It could have been such a beautiful day for him: Friedrich Merz is officially chosen as the CDU and CSU candidate for chancellor and is celebrated. If only the brutal Election defeat in Brandenburg would not have been.
Merz already knew why he wanted to smooth over the K question with CSU leader Markus Söder before Sunday. Especially since a defeat was expected. But he is still far from having managed what is now coming his way. The year until the election could be a long one.
Because it’s not just the SPD that has major problems to solve; the Union also has a lot to deal with. And that’s no small thing.
Merz will not have any peace. Above all, he has none from Söder. It is striking that he has not yet said in a single sentence: Our Friedrich is the best candidate.
Söder doesn’t think that way either. And some others in the CDU don’t either. Michael Kretschmer from Saxony, for example: Not a word about Merz, but thanks to Söder for clearing the way.
Söder continues the dispute over black-green
The black-green issue also hangs heavily over the candidate. Söder, however, is not letting up in his ranting. Even if he were to make one of his U-turns before the election, the election is not tomorrow.
Then Merz himself: what a target he offers as a political figure! Long out of business, the political one, he has in the meantime secured business for a global locust. As a lobbyist for the economy, he is an aloof millionaire with his own plane – that is what the descriptions say. Merz, the man who came in from the cold.
Campaign can the SPD
And if the SPD can do anything else, it is to turn it into a campaign. Merz will be followed at every step in order to make a big deal out of one misstep. Just like with Armin Laschet.
Laschet is a warning to Merz in his person. And this provides perhaps the decisive clue as to what Merz lacks as a candidate: evidence of compassionate conservatism.
Just as the social democratic chancellor must make it clearer that he is good at business, Merz must make it clear that he is also socially minded. He can only win by doing this.
The Social wing of the Union can already be happy. Minimum wage and pensions in a Christian-social way – that is what the CDU and CSU will be turning into a candidate for chancellor. Merz still has a few days to do that.
