Daniel Günther, Hendrik Wüst and now Boris Rhein – the CDU has another new prime minister. This time in Hesse, elected in parliament after the long-term regent Volker Bouffier in the first ballot, which is not a matter of course.
Not in general, and not here in particular, because the first black-green coalition in Germany governs with a majority of just one vote. Anything could have happened there. But no one had the dubious courage to cool off a little in a secret ballot.
So things seem to be going pretty well in Hesse, once a bastion of Christian Democratic conservatism. The CDU was proud to be a “combat association”. Alfred Dregger, Manfred Kanther, Roland Koch, these were the names that stood for this trend.
Once upon a time, because a lot has changed in the twelve years under Bouffier. He himself too, from a hardliner in domestic politics to a great moderator.
But beyond the style, there has since been a willingness to open up to new content. Joschka Fischer, who used to live in Frankfurt, is no longer suspected of being a radical. Not with Boris Rhein, the Frankfurter, who is also a reformed conservative of a new breed. No, when the CDU wants to be more colorful in the federal government today; under a Friedrich Merz, who has declared himself to amaze the citizens.
What started out from Bouffier, who is now 70, his party has achieved across the board: Black Greens – and from an age cohort born in the 1970s – are meeting more and more Black Greens, even in what used to be left-wing state associations. Let’s just look at North Rhine-Westphalia and Mona Neubaur. That can be something, the next black-green coalition – and not only there.
The SPD should be scared and anxious in view of the development. The alternative model radiates that black-green (or green-black as in the Ländle) would already be in the league before the traffic light. The Union at 29 percent, ten points ahead of the SPD, the Greens are also five points ahead of them, the chancellor bonus has passed – the Social Democrats fall back in polls to the numbers before the great flood, which helped to wash Olaf Scholz into the chancellor’s office .
Especially since there was always a bridge between black and green. Whether it’s the environment or the economy – the convergence isn’t that surprising. Even Heiner Geißler wanted to support them, as did Wolfgang Schäuble. And now the SPD and the FDP are coming up against their competitors, and it’s difficult for them to find answers.
Günther, Wüst and Rhein: You can now prove that the future lies in your constellation. They are young enough, considerably younger than the chancellor. The black-green generation is growing fast.
