Friedrich Merz blames the traffic light for the AfD poll high – but part of the CDU prefers to talk about their own performance. Hard months await the Christian Democrats.
It was only a few days ago that the CDU seemed reasonably satisfied. Following in the footsteps of Konrad Adenauer, the party leadership stayed at the summer residence of the first Chancellor in Cadenabbia, Italy, to fine-tune their program. People played bocce, ate well and discussed new ideas in tax and social policy in the complex on Lake Como. “It was really fun,” enthused Friedrich Merz, the party leader.