Over the past three years, German journalists and political strategists have been 'worried' over the upward trend of the AfD Party (the anti-immigration group in German politics).
A lot of criticism and blame has been dished out. Some voters have been noted as 'stupid' or naive. That commentary just infuriated the pro-AfD enthusiasts even more.
It is obvious that the more pro-AfD enthusiasts are coming out of eastern Germany. If you look in states like NRW, Hessen or Bavaria...the typical AfD vote is only around seven to ten percent. You might find a district or two where they spiraled upward to 20 percent in the western part of the country, but that's rare.
After watching this for an extended period, I have this pet-theory on why AfD's politics is more charged up in the east, than the west. Part of this revolves around 1989 collapse of the Berlin Wall, and the unification period.
In 1990, if you'd gone to any East German guy or gal who was 20 years old at the time....they were hyped up and thinking....in thirty years....our lifestyle and landscape will be just like it is in western Germany. They were positive and seeing this great future coming down the pike.
Well....we are thirty years from that point, and the 'even-nature' of the two German lands simply doesn't exist.
Adding a cherry to this problem....when this doorway for asylum and immigration took place, these eastern folks didn't see any positive out of this generous open-doorway. If anything, more funding would go to immigration projects than ensuring a level playing field of east and west Germany.
Toss in the fact that x-number of migrants were delivered into eastern cities, where employment is crappy....you just infuriated more people about the progress of this unification.
So all of these unhappy voters have an option, and are exercising their only method of sending a message to Chancellor Merkel and the current government. There's no doubt that both the CDU and SPD parties have gotten the message, but the response is what? They can't really write an escape plan out of this....without looking anti-migrant or anti-immigrant.
The peak talk? That the AfD folks have hit some peak in popularity? I've yet to see any evidence of that.
The journalists walking around and on continual criticism of this eastern trend of AfD voting? I'd go and suggest a four-week drive around eastern Germany and just observe the landscape....talk to regular people on the street....and assess why multiculturalism, integration and migration aren't selling well.
While I hate to suggest it.....both the SPD and CDU parties will continue in a spiral, until something here is resolved.
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