Chancellor Olaf Scholz as a driving force in an election campaign has so far been a rather moderate success story for the SPD. Almost two years ago, the pale leading candidate Thomas Kutschaty relied on the chancellor effect in the North Rhine-Westphalia state election campaign and had Scholz on his poster. The slogan at the time was: “Together for NRW and Germany.” On May 15, 2022, the SPD achieved the worst state election result in its history on the Rhine and Ruhr with 26.7 percent, so the Chancellor was not much help to the already weak NRW SPD.
Kevin Kühnert is currently preparing his first major election campaign in his role as general secretary for the SPD, for the European elections on June 9th. And he doesn’t want to know anything about a chancellor penalty. Scholz should be postered everywhere. At the same time, local elections will take place in nine federal states, including all five of East Germany. Voter mobilization will therefore be of considerable importance, especially in order to prevent nationwide AfD success; some East German politicians are already warning of a “blue wave” in the municipalities.
The European elections will be a milestone, also for the Chancellor
In the 2019 European elections, the SPD achieved the worst result in its history with 15.8 percent – party and parliamentary group leader Andrea Nahles then resigned. The coming European elections are now seen as an important milestone in the party, also with regard to whether Chancellor Scholz still has a future. Kühnert is very optimistic; despite the current poor approval ratings, he trusts the Chancellor to improve the results from back then. Even if Scholz – as in North Rhine-Westphalia – is not directly available for election.
Kühnert emphasized at a press conference in the Willy Brandt House that they would not only rely on the top candidate Katarina Barley, but also on Scholz. “They will both be faces of the campaign. We see this as an obstacle.” Some people would like the SPD to distance itself from its own chancellor. “But there is no reason for that,” says Kühnert. After all, Scholz is a guarantee for implementing as much social democratic policy as possible in Brussels.
Kühnert says he doesn’t see the danger that political opponents like the AfD could turn the European elections even more into a vote on the Chancellor and his policies in the traffic light coalition. Above all, he wants to challenge the AfD in terms of content and sees new fighting spirit in his party. With a view to AfD leader Alice Weidel’s thought games for a “Dexit”, a German exit from the EU along the lines of Great Britain, Kühnert says: “The cat is now out of the bag.”
After the large crowds at demonstrations against right-wing extremism and the revelations of Corrective About a meeting of right-wing extremists, at which AfD politicians were also present, Kühnert is counting on an increased mobilization effect: “There is a ferment in society.” In terms of content, the aim is to score points with, among other things, the commitment to fair wages and good social standards, less bureaucracy, greater taxation of large corporations and the fight to preserve freedom, the rule of law and democracy in Europe.
Criticism of Scholz is also becoming louder in the SPD
The Social Democrats’ common European lead candidate will be EU Labor and Social Commissioner Nicolas Schmit from Luxembourg; he wants to succeed EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Schmit is to be officially named the top candidate at a party congress on March 2nd. SPD leading candidate Barley is currently one of fourteen vice-presidents of the European Parliament and wants to continue to play an important role in Europe in the future. She also repeatedly dares to enter into conflict with Hungary’s Prime Minister Victor Orbán, whom she accuses of disregarding legal standards.
The SPD will select its 96 candidates for the European elections on Sunday at a delegate conference with 150 participants. In addition to Barley, Scholz will also speak, who is currently seeking greater support for Ukraine from his European partners, for example through new arms deliveries. In addition, the European election program should then be decided. General Secretary Kühnert is receiving support from the Brinkert Lück agency, which was already responsible for the successful campaign in the 2021 federal election.
Criticism of Chancellor Scholz has recently become louder within the SPD, for example because the party and parliamentary group were taken by surprise by the plans for farmers to cut agricultural diesel. Despite the farmers’ protests, the cut will now come, but gradually. Overall, Scholz has significantly lost his reputation among citizens after the Federal Constitutional Court’s ruling, which certified an unconstitutional budget policy and led to the cancellation of 60 billion euros. Now the traffic light coalition has to save even more, as the debt brake is to be adhered to in the current year and the previous budget management ruling sets strict limits with special funds.