- Under Desperados: Kubicki, Kemmerich and the campaign against Berlin
The man who serves as Vice President of the German Bundestag for the FDP is casually leaning against a railing. His sun-tanned face is contrasted by the bright white Olympic training jacket. In the background, sparkling water and sailboats can be seen. The man says into the phone camera: "My name is Wolfgang Kubicki and I support Thomas Kemmerich in the state election in Thuringia on September 1st."
That's how the short video begins, which is currently being distributed as an ad on social networks. A federal FDP politician is campaigning for a regional FDP top candidate. Everything seems normal, right?
Not quite.
FDP made unprecedented decision
It's almost four years since the federal leadership of the FDP made an unprecedented decision. The central sentence read: "The federal association will not support a top candidacy of Thomas Kemmerich in the next election of the Thuringian state parliament."
The reason for this was a rather crazy chain of events that federal chairman Christian Lindner would likely rather forget. In February 2020, Kemmerich accepted his election as Minister President with the help of the AfD without hesitation, only to have to step down again shortly afterwards.
What followed was even more astonishing. As if nothing had happened, Kemmerich simply continued as head of the state party and parliamentary group, causing new scandals. He demonstrated together with Querdenkers and right-wing extremists against the corona measures and shifted all responsibility for his government fiasco onto others. "Not the acceptance of the election was the mistake," he tweeted, "but the handling of the situation by the other democratic parties."
Lindner distanced himself from Kemmerich
At this point, Lindner had had enough. "The FDP presidency distances itself from the current statements of Thomas Kemmerich," it said in the press release in October 2020. There would be "no financial, logistical or organizational support" for him as a top candidate from the federal association.
Kubicki was already then what he still is today: Lindner's first deputy. But he did not express himself publicly on the decision. Instead, board member Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann spoke. Kemmerich had "somehow taken a wrong turn and didn't turn back," she tweeted. "It's time for you to take the exit now. Bye."
But she, like everyone else, was wrong. Kemmerich lost his posts in the FDP federal board and as head of the liberal middle-class association. "Bye" he didn't say at all. Almost a year later, the Thuringian FDP re-elected him as their chairman, for which, who else, Wolfgang Kubicki traveled.
Whatever happened to Kemmerich afterwards, whether a court annulled his city council mandate in Erfurt or the FDP lost its faction status in the state parliament: The small state party stood by its chairman - and nominated him as top candidate. There were no other candidates.
The federal party then cut off all transfers as announced. "Not a cent" would be given for the election campaign in Thuringia, it was said from Berlin. But Kemmerich didn't care. He had long since started collecting donations, from entrepreneurs, friends and other people who still liked him, the former short-term Minister President.
Financially, says Kemmerich, it looks great. The state party has now collected 550,000 euros – 300,000 euros more than five years ago. This has almost compensated for the subsidy from the federal party, which was around 350,000 euros at the time. "It's trickling in," he says.
The Top Candidate Stylizes Himself as a Renegade
As a result, the FDP is very visible in the campaign. Above all in the cities, posters with the face of the top candidate are hanging, where he tries to turn his defeat in 2020 into its opposite. "Stepped down to gain momentum," it says on a poster, on which the black cowboy boots can also be seen again. His favorite footwear was already at the center of the campaign in 2019.
Almost enjoyably, Kemmerich stylizes himself as a renegade, a political desperado. A cinema spot, held in dark black and white, first shows only the contours of the candidate. A voice whispers to the dark western music: "The most controversial man in Berlin is a Thuringian. They say he's a right-winger and has sold his soul. They want to get rid of him by any means. But that won't happen!" At the end, the music swells triumphantly while Kemmerich looks at the audience and says: "Whoever loves Thuringia, vote for me."
Kemmerich Calls for Exit from the Traffic Light Coalition
"Berlin" is of course used here as a synonym for the coalition in which the FDP is involved. The closer the election date gets, the more openly Kemmerich campaigns against his own federal government. On the election campaign page of the Thuringian Liberals, it says in capital letters: "Every vote for Kemmerich is a vote against the traffic light."
The top candidate tells stern: "I think it no longer makes sense to continue the traffic light." The SPD does not want to address the excesses of social benefits, and the Greens are holding on to the unnecessary child basic security, while the economy is collapsing. Therefore: "The point has been reached at which the FDP should do the right thing for Germany and exit this coalition."
Of course, Kemmerich knows that Lindner doesn't care what he says. Rather, the federal party may be counting on the Thuringian problem solving itself at the election. In the polls, the state party is at 2 percent. Only a few still believe that Kemmerich can repeat the feat of 2019, when the FDP entered the state parliament with 5.0066 percent.
Kemmerich prefers to quote other polls. They say that 80 percent of eligible voters know him and 18 percent are satisfied with his person. "I firmly believe that we will make it back into the state parliament," he says.
And then? Would he again, in case of success, run again as Minister President? "I reserve the right to run for any office that presents itself," answers Kemmerich to this question. And yes, he would accept the vote again, regardless of whether the AfD votes for him. Because: "That would not be a cooperation that is clearly excluded for me."
Would Kubicki still find Kemmerich so great then? At least it wouldn't be excluded. After all, he described his friend's minister president election in 2020 as a "great success" in a first reaction.
After stating that he supports Thomas Kemmerich in the state election, Wolfgang Kubicki, the FDP's Vice President of the German Bundestag, may be asked about the party's previous decision not to support Kemmerich's top candidacy. In response, he might say, "I'm not going to lie, the past events were complicated, but I believe in Thomas' abilities and his commitment to Thuringia."
If the topic of financial support for Kemmerich's campaign arises, Kubicki could argue, "Regardless of the party's decision, the support from the people of Thuringia has been overwhelming. Thomas has managed to raise significant funds for his campaign, demonstrating his popularity despite the challenges he's faced."
