René Stadtkewitz is a member of the state assembly in Berlin and one of the founders of Die Freiheit ("Freedom Party"), a right-wing populist party that is dedicated to spreading intolerance and hatred of Islam and of the Muslim population in Germany. In view of the enormous success of Thilo Sarrazin's book Deutschland schafft sich ab, and recent polls showing a growing acceptance of right-wing populist views, Herr Stadtkewitz was expecting big things from last weekend's state election in Berlin. To "seal the deal", René Stadtkewitz even showed up in New York City on September 11 to show his solidarity with hate groups in the US. (You can watch his rather pathetic appearance below).
Well, things did not quite turn out as he expected, the "Freedom Party" received exactly 1% of the vote - far less than what is required to have representation in the assembly. In fact, none of the right-wing parties did well in the Berlin election, even though Berlin is the home town of Thilo Sarrazin (the party slogan was: „Wählen gehen für Thilos Thesen“ /"Vote for Thilo's Ideas"). Only the Liberal Party (FDP) - the party of big business - received fewer votes.
The right-wing extremist weekly paper Junge Freiheit - published in Berlin - is melancholy and depressed by the voting behavior of Berliners, who kept the Social Democrats (SPD) in power (in coalition with the Greens or the CDU):
Unsere Hauptstadt läßt es sich am Tropf des Länderfinanzausgleichs gutgehen, bekommt die Arbeitslosigkeit nicht in den Griff, kann mit Schulen ohne deutsche Kinder aufwarten und läßt das Fahren mit der U-Bahn mittlerweile zur Mutprobe werden. Ein wunderbares Pflaster für die bürgerliche Opposition müßte man meinen. Aber weit gefehlt: 75 Prozent der Berliner wählen links.
("Our capital city lives off of state subsidies, can't get a grip on unemployment, educates non-German children in its public schools, and turns riding the subway into a test of courage. One would think this is a good hunting ground for a right-wing opposition party. But far from it: 75% of all Berliners vote left of center.")
Berliners are like New Yorkers: they don't respond well to fear-mongering.
Good news.
Posted by: Hattie | September 23, 2011 at 02:32 PM