Germany (X): German General Election - Page 41

On September 26 2013 14:42 Aiobhill wrote:


Main issues in this election cycle were economy and Europe. Contributions from Pirates on those topics were rare. Smart, realistic contributions were non-existent, but since I'm also 'kinda out of mainstream media', whoever feel free to correct me with links/quotes.

Pirates do well on their main issues - net culture, privacy, civil rights. During a world-wide banking and economic crisis since Lehman, that's nice but not enough in the eyes of most grown-ups to justify voting for them.

On September 26 2013 18:12 Restrider wrote:


I think the entire NSA affair could have been the topic for the Pirates. Since civil rights in the age of internet is not such a high priority topic - or at least it was not in the past - this affair should have given the Pirates the opportunity to act as ambassadors of the digital generation, explaining the general public what this NSA SNAFU actually means.
But their exposition during that time was minimal to non-existent.
Especially since the other parties really seemed not qualified in this topic (i.e. "Das Internet ist Neuland" - A. Merkel; "Supergrundrecht Sicherheit" - H.-P. Friedrich (what kind of a clown is this guy?? and that is our minister of internal affairs); "Die Debatte über die NSA-Affäre erkläre ich hiermit für beendet." - R. Pofalla (I never liked this guy, but considering his verbal slander towards an elected representative acting in accordance with his conscience and this chuzpe to just declare that a serious and needed debate is over ... ugh. I usually do not use these kind of words, but this guy is a category one @sshole if there ever was one.).

In short, they somehow fucked it up hard.

On September 27 2013 08:11 Mataza wrote:


I know they fucked up, but here I am still wondering how they managed to do that.
With these kind of assists from other parties, any speech should almost write itself. "The other parties have shown no competence. The internet is a thing many germans have grown up with and it is far from neuland etc etc."
"The NSA surveillance is a breach of everything we as germans believe in according to our own Grundgesetz"

It almost sounds as if they didn't really try.

On September 27 2013 08:34 Nyxisto wrote:


The biggest part about the failure of the pirate party is not their program, it's the fact that they're a giant unorganized horde of nerds. Most of the time when they're on television, with one or two exceptions, they accomplish to reach a starcraft champagne ceremony level of awkwardness.

Also their large group of voters from the local elections two years ago were protests voters. The 9% they reached in Berlin were, from the start, impossible to reach again. The whole party intern switcharoo around Ponader didn't make it any better.

And regarding the NSA scandal, it just didn't really interest anyone. Although handled very badly by CDU/FDP, the topic could barely mobilize anyone to switch their vote to the opposition or the pirates. That's also due to the fact that the piraty party doesn't have any kind of position on the economy or foreign politics. No one is going to vote for a party which does not cover two of the most important fields of politics. That's why most of the protest voters went over to the AfD.

On September 27 2013 08:34 Nyxisto wrote:


The biggest part about the failure of the pirate party is not their program, it's the fact that they're a giant unorganized horde of nerds. Most of the time when they're on television, with one or two exceptions, they accomplish to reach a starcraft champagne ceremony level of awkwardness.

Also their large group of voters from the local elections two years ago were protests voters. The 9% they reached in Berlin were, from the start, impossible to reach again. The whole party intern switcharoo around Ponader didn't make it any better.

And regarding the NSA scandal, it just didn't really interest anyone. Although handled very badly by CDU/FDP, the topic could barely mobilize anyone to switch their vote to the opposition or the pirates. That's also due to the fact that the piraty party doesn't have any kind of position on the economy or foreign politics. No one is going to vote for a party which does not cover two of the most important fields of politics. That's why most of the protest voters went over to the AfD.

On September 27 2013 20:19 FetTerBender wrote:


Teaja getting a big bottle of Champagne after winning the Dreamhack Valencia. Some staff guy shakes it, opens it while Teaja is holding it, nothing happens. The awkwardness was awesome

On October 14 2013 20:30 zatic wrote:
Update:

So, here we are almost a month after election:

The Union are having talks with both the SPD and the Greens about possible coalitions. After two weeks of non committal talks everything looks like we are heading for a grand coalition between the Union and the SPD. The Union probed for common ground with the Greens, but it appears those talks were not considered successful by either the conservatives or the Greens. Much ideological difference still exists between the two, particularly between the Greens and the smaller CSU.

As expected, Merkel is said to yield the introduction of a nation wide minimum wage to the social-democrats. In return, the SPD supposedly has agreed to leave the "kitchen premium" in place, or only slightly change it (essentially moving it from federal to state jurisdiction).

If the two agree on a coalition with those two major hurdles out of the way, I see Merkel dominating the SPD on all other topics. She will probably delay the (much needed) education reform, robbing the SPD off their main argument in favor of higher taxes. Merkel's Union will most certainly not move an inch on the topic of immigration. And when it comes to renewable energy, Union and SPD will most likely work out a vague proposition that will in the end protect businesses and result in higher energy prices for consumers, but will save face for both parties.

On October 14 2013 20:44 Yello wrote:


so nothing surprising happening here. I'm a little bit sad because I had some optimistic hopes for big changes but that was rather naive I guess

On October 14 2013 23:24 Dyme wrote:

There wasn't any way for Merkel not to win.

And of course nothing changes when you elect the same conservative candidate for the third time.

I'm actually starting to think that a 2-party system like in the US is superior than what Germany has. At least then you would have two possible governments instead of having CDU+X every single election.

But apparently Germans are really happy and satisfied people. Just sucks to have conservative governments when your poverty is what they're trying to conserve.

On October 14 2013 23:24 Dyme wrote:

There wasn't any way for Merkel not to win.

And of course nothing changes when you elect the same conservative candidate for the third time.

I'm actually starting to think that a 2-party system like in the US is superior than what Germany has. At least then you would have two possible governments instead of having CDU+X every single election.

But apparently Germans are really happy and satisfied people. Just sucks to have conservative governments when your poverty is what they're trying to conserve.

On October 15 2013 00:46 Mataza wrote:

Define what you mean with poverty, because as far as I'm concerned we have a very high living standard in germany.
For reference I, as a student, have less money after paying my rent than Hartz IV recipients. There would be Bafög for that, but I'm not eligible anymore. And still I manage to not starve, visit doctors and the like.


Wasn't the question this month which party would give in and be Merkels minor partner? I don't feel particular surprised here. The main hurdle for the "kitchen premium" was just how stupid it sounds on paper. What I mean is "stay at home wives" are quite common because not every woman has the ambition to become an energetic, independent career woman.

On October 15 2013 01:45 Restrider wrote:
Anyone wondering whether the SPD basis will actually accept another grand coalition?
Of course the elites in the SPD secretly want a grand coalition, because they are droolingly trying to get positions in the next administration.
But you cannot bribe the party members in the communities with this. And frankly, I do not think that Merkel and the Union can give in too much either, since they have 16 % more than the SPD. And since the SPD basis usually tends to be more left than the party elites...
I would not be surprised, if the SPD basis rejects a coalition, when they are asked to voted for or against it. Bear in mind that they still remember the last grand coalition.

On October 15 2013 01:49 JustPassingBy wrote:


I still don't get it. Why do people think that the losses of the SPD in the election after the grand coalition is primarily due to the CDU and not because of the failure of the people leading the SPD during the coalition?