Annalena Baerbock under attack from left, right ....and the Kremlin

When the German Green Party chose Annalena Baerbock as its candidate for chancellor there was a surge of enthusiasm.  Here was an attractive fresh face with an optimistic message of change for Germany.  To be sure, part of this burst of enthusiasm was the result of coalition fatigue. Many young voters can barely remember a time when Angela Merkel was not the German Chancellor.  And after 16 years her popularity has somewhat declined - especially after the last difficult 18 months of dealing with Covid-19.  But almost immediately the attacks on Baerbock began to heat up.  On the right, the CDU politician and Trump wannabe Friedrich Merz sounded the alarm that Annalena Baerbock was totally unqualified to lead Germany:

"As a citizen of our country, I would not like to hand over the leadership of this country to someone who has neither government experience nor professional experience outside of politics and who also has no international experience," Merz told the "Bild" (Friday edition) .

Merz's opinion alone increases my enthusiasm for Annalena. 

On the left, Sahra Wagenknecht took time out from her talk show appearances to write a scathing attack on Baerbock and the Greens.  Among other reasons, Wagenknecht is appalled that Annalena stands up for human rights in Russia:

"Nicht nur bedenklich, sondern brandgefährlich allerdings ist, was von der möglichen grünen Kanzlerin bisher in Sachen Außenpolitik zu hören war. So forderte Baerbock unlängst, Deutschland müsse "den Druck auf Russland" erhöhen und brauche "dringend eine klare außenpolitische Haltung gegenüber dem russischen Regime" und "schärfere Sanktionen". Wenn jemand Merkel und Maas übertriebene Russlandfreundlichkeit unterstellt, möchte man sich besser nicht ausmalen, wie die Betreffende mit der Atommacht Russland künftig umzuspringen gedenkt."

In general, Wagenknecht sees Baerbock's support for NATO the transatlantic alliance with the United States, as well as for global human rights as "highly dangerous" (brandgefährlich). 

Wagenknecht's concerns are shared by none other than her hero Vladimir Putin, who has instructed his troll machine to attack Frau Baerbock.  Having failed to propel Donald Trump to a second term in the US, Putin sees a chance to influence the national election in Germany: 

"Annalena Baerbock, who is running to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor in September’s election, has been targeted in recent days by an increasingly vicious campaign across social media.The onslaught has included fake images purporting to show her naked, in which the body depicted is that of a Russian model, and a photograph of her standing next to the billionaire financier George Soros that has been used to claim she is part of a worldwide Jewish conspiracy of which the far right believe he is the mastermind.

Cem Özdemir, a former Green party leader and now its foreign policy expert, said he was not surprised at the campaign, which he and others, including German security experts, see as Kremlin-backed.“In order to prevent the Greens from entering the government no means are beyond the Kremlin,” Özdemir told German media.“I can only advise all democrats not to participate in [Vladimir] Putin’s dirty campaign. The German parliament will be chosen in Germany, not in Moscow, Ankara or Beijing.”

Putin no doubt sees the CDU candidate Armin Laschet as more accommodating to Russian interests.  The next few months will determine whether Germany decides to vote for more of the same (Laschet) or chart a new course with younger leadership.

Comments

[Koogleschreiber]

We already have the highest electricity prices in Europe, but according to the Greens, this is not enough. Energy prices must hurt, they simply can't be too high. The defenseless victims would be the working poor and those with a low income. Of course the Greens also have interesting ideas about future house building and guess who will pay for it at last? A nice way to tax those whose income can not be taxed because it's too low... In fact, it is the affluent bourgeoisie that can afford to sympathize with the ideas of the Greens. Bored dentist wives, entrepreneurs with an esoteric touch and of course civil servants and, among them, especially the teachers. Baerbock for chancellor? God help us all.

[sol1]

Daily Struggle at Bild:

https://i.imgflip.com/59jdsp.jpg

[Tim McCann]

Western domocracies are going to have to find a way to defeat the Russian troll factories and the ransomware criminals. How many more elections do we want the Russians to influence before it's too late?

Baerbock will not be Chancellor. However there is a good possibility the Greens will be part of the next coalition. The CDU is also promising to attack climate change "painlessly". So either way it's going to cost money.