What does the 'political center' really mean?
In the USA, a woman advocating for identity politics challenges Donald Trump, and in the CDU, Merkel supporters depart: The political center is melting in the summer of 2024.
If the sky isn't blue enough, the clouds aren't white enough, or the trees aren't green enough for me, I'll just put on my sunglasses. They have polarizing lenses in there, and polarization is quite magical, even in photography. By turning the polarizing filter a little, the reflection is reduced, and the colors intensify, even if we're then walking in a somewhat unrealistic world.
Politics is similar: More polarization intensifies contrasts but also reduces reflection. We see this loudly in the United States, and even in the shadow of the summer break in the CDU. We can't count on a debate climate change - even if everything is so colorful.
Kamala Harris, who was once a prosecutor, is laughing loudly - that's how the debate is going over there, for whatever reason laughing is a problem when the alternative ladies like to touch the subject of gender ("grab 'em by the pussy," as Trump put it). We know little about Harris' campaign, but all signs point to a polarizing campaign: Harris is an identity political dream candidate and an easy target for Donald Trump and his people.
"Kamala" can dance with "Freedom"
Shortly after Joe Biden threw in the towel, a social media wave flooded the internet: Kamala dances, Kamala laughs, Kamala tells the story of the coconut - and gets her own emoji! Cool! Videos are being made at breakneck speed: Kamala, the prosecutor, as an alternative to the convicted criminal Donald Trump, Kamala, who campaigns for "Freedom" and gets to use a Beyoncé song, Kamala, who has Indian and Jamaican roots, Kamala, whom we call "Kamala."
Harris' politics should, in fact, be "more liberal" than Biden's, "liberal" in the American sense, which roughly translates to: left. Her main message is currently "Freedom" for abortion. Few issues divide America as much as this one, since the conservative-leaning Supreme Court overturned the right to abortion ("Roe v. Wade"). It's a good way to differentiate: Trump's vice president J.D. Vance recently denied childless "cat ladies" the right to vote, which could even raise eyebrows among Republicans if they dare to publicly show their disapproval.
The issue of Israel is also identity politics charged: The vice president has been surprisingly articulate on the subject of the Middle East so far, but she is likely to distance herself from Biden's firm solidarity. For migration policy, another megatheme, she is already in the sights of the Republicans. She once called migrants: "Don't come here!", but it didn't help: Immigration is on the rise and occupies more and more Americans, across party lines.
The friendly fight days are over
If Harris stumbles on one of the leftist issues, she could receive reminders from her own ranks: Even the extremely left-wing Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has announced her support for Harris - and she will remember when the time comes.
The friendly fight days between the major parties are not coming back soon over there. Here in Germany, it looks similar in July 2024, but the symptoms are more subtle - and currently visible in the CDU and the FDP.
Whenever the CDU chairman allows even the slightest flirt with the Greens, such as recommending a Green for a CDU commission presidency, Wolfgang Kubicki (FDP) steps in with his polarization glasses: "Have a nice trip with the Greens into the abyss", the recently installed politician on Elon Musk's platform X remarked recently.
Not so Green as of late
The CDU is acting not so Green as of late: Just before the summer break, four CDU women bid farewell, who were not part of the Merkel faction - and Hermann Gröhe, the "Merkelian", also left. Those who wanted to speak out in the CDU and with what authoritative tone could be read in public comments: Overwhelmingly men cheered and scolded anyone who questioned this development - even a Journalist was reprimanded.
The former CDU parliamentarian Heribert Hirte therefore wrote about the "German Project2025 in the CDU" and referred to the so-called transformation program of the Republican thought leaders in the USA. The new Union faction is drifting "personally further and further away from the center (where elections are supposedly won)" according to Hirte.
Middle? Which "Middle"? Perhaps Hirte is thinking of the noughties, when all parties seemed to be competing for the representation of the "Middle", as political scientists warned that such boring interest balance would bore the electorate even more and that it had to crackle and crash a little.
The Middle seems to be rotting
These are concerns from yesterday: The political centrifuges are rotating faster and faster here and there, and voters are more unforgiving than ever. A campaign that seeks approval from the entire population is neither to be expected in the United States nor in Germany. The Middle seems to have disappeared, so it would be logical if it were abandoned in the CDU and the door to Robert Habeck's people was only opened for arithmetical reasons.
Perhaps we need polarization, so that we can see more contrast again, the Blue, the White, the Green. I hope, however, that we will manage to get rid of this ridiculous polarization glasses some day.
In the context of the United States Presidency Election 2024, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to run a polarizing campaign, positioning herself as an identity political dream candidate and an easy target for former President Donald Trump. This trend of polarization is also visible within the German political party CDU, with figures like Wolfgang Kubicki criticizing any perceived flirtation with the Green Party. Following the departure of Merkel supporters, Friedrich Merz is leading the CDU, advocating for a more conservative approach and causing tension within the party. Meanwhile, former CDU members such as Hermann Gröhe and several women have left the party, expressing concerns about the shift towards the right.
