The CDU’s program is still quite vague in many important areas. Friedrich Merz urgently needs to change that if he wants to get not only a CSU party conference, but also the voters on his side.
The performance couldn’t have gone better for Friedrich Merz. Angela Merkel and Armin Laschet can tell you a thing or two about how difficult the CSU can make things for chancellor candidates from their sister party. But Merz succeeded in two things. With his speech at the CSU party conference, he was able to convince the delegates that he was actually the right candidate. And he has gained enough respect for Markus Söder. Merkel did not always succeed in this and Laschet almost never succeeded.