Are There Two Green Parties in Germany?

 Well...his is an odd discussion.  

Most people will argue that there version one....the Green Party at the national level.   Then they will open up and suggest the second one existing....in Baden-Wurttemberg and run by the Premier-President there (Kretschmann).  

The difference between Kretschmann's version and the national version?  From an outsider's point....Kretschmann's vision is that you can't really change things overnight, that business and commerce provide jobs, and that the bulk of society aren't that hyped-up or thrilled over the environmentalist label.  

Kretschmann has this one odd event which started up around 2006/2007 and centered on Stuttgart.  Few grasp this change in landscape.

Up until the Stuttgart-21 project took off (2006/2007)....the SPD Party held around 25-percent of local voting in the state.  The Greens in that era?  11-percent. 

Stuttgart-21?  This was a massive renovation project involving the train station in town, the railway tunnels leading into the city, and the local subway structure.  In simple terms....it was a ten-year project and promised massive changes (with massive cost).  Over a period of just a couple of years....the anti-Stuttgart-21 crowd was able to convince a fair number of folks within the city that the project was 'evil' and corrupted. 

In the 2011 state election....the Greens overcame the SPD Party (by 1-point).  

In the 2016 state election....the Greens won the election outright (over the CDU Party, by 3 points).  The SPD Party?  Regulated down to 12-percent.  

All  of this....attached to the anti-Stuttgart-21 effort.  The fact that the renovation still continues?  That's the comical side of this.  As much as environmentalists blasted the renovation, chatted excessively over corrupt land speculation practices, and knocked the SPD Party....Stuttgart-21 still continues on.

Within Baden-Wurttemberg....I think most Germans would suggest that the Green vision for the state isn't that radical, and that they wouldn't mind if Kretschmann were Chancellor.  The age factor?  Well....the guy is 72 years old, and this 2021 state election is the last 'hurrah' for him.  If he was in his early 60s....I could see him pitching his message nationally.