What if Wolfgang Schäuble could still walk?

Susano

Banned
You do see that the majority of the German politicians I hailed as shining examples of how a politician should be are/were somewhat to the left of center, right? :D

Although I still would not characterize Helmut Schmidt as strictly left-of-center...the signals he sent and keeps sending are a bit confusing...

Kohl left-of-center? Since when? Maybe its a generational shift thing, but he always seemed very conservative to me. Maybe not in matters of welfare and the like, but in matters of social and civil rights, and that to me is the main defining poingt of right and left wing.

And beyond that there is the chancellor who got himself bribed by a French company and then valued his own word more than the rule of law! Besides the post-unification mess his coalition created, but I talked about that in the 20 Years ago thread (German reunification) in Off-Topic already... so bah to him being a great politican. Though of course the best thing to happen (Kohl achieves reunification, then SPD wins the elections) is ASB.

Well, I consider Schäuble as not loyal to Merkel, but rather to the CDU, for which I consider him still being an assett, filling a position which can only be rather unthankful under the conditions of the current economic crisis.
I dunno. Steinbrück managed to profile himself over the crisis. Of course, that does take sufficient competence :D

The presidency might be a different point. Köhler seemed to be a good idea at the time, but with hindsight, he wasn't up for the task (at least not over the double tenure of 10 years).
He was a bit thin-skinned, but the comment he got so criticiszed about was right - German troops should follow German economical interests.
he would succumb to the Killer Queen from the East.
Merkel, Queen of Blades? :D

I actually consider Schäuble as one of those political animals who cannot live without their "drug". There would have been enough occasions on which he could have withdrawn into privacy. As long as there is a position for them, they will be there.
Yeah, seems like a good characterisation. So I think hed have stayed anyways.

then the pun "Schäuble geht gar nicht" isn't effective.
Or the more radical "Stellt ihn an die Wand" of course :D Or well, it would sound more sinister and less absurd.

I use to say that Helmut Schmidt was the best CDU chancellor Germany ever had...
Given the average quality of CDU chancellors thats not really difficult :D Schmidt was no bad chancellor, though I think he might have fit more in the post-Cold War world. Standing to NATO made sense in his time, but I think he wouldve had fun with multipolarism, heh.
 
@Monty Burns

Generally you are right. But you have to take into consideration that the Green party is a special case. Althought they don't rotate as much as they used to, they are still a bit allergic to long-time domination by single personalities. Fischer was immune to that as long as he was Vizekanzler; but what would have happend afterwards is rather unpredictable IMHO.

And I don't think Scharping should've shaved. He made too many mistakes, that's why he managed to lose despite things being bad enough. Schröder would've been the better choice for the SPD in '94.

Granted. But '94 was quite close. Scharping is not unimaginable afterwards. If it would have been good, probably not. Though Kohl's last years were far from glorious either.

Kohl left-of-center? Since when?

I absolutely agree. However, participants from other nations might view our complete German party system as an appaling case of liberal-communism. :D

Though of course the best thing to happen (Kohl achieves reunification, then SPD wins the elections) is ASB.

If your timeline can work without a Bundeskanzler Lafontaine, I can live with that.

Steinbrück managed to profile himself over the crisis. Of course, that does take sufficient competence :D

Nothing against Steinbrück who did well enough during the crisis. But did he have a profile beforehands? Apart from being the guy who lost NRW (though the blame shouldn't be on him exclusively)?

He was a bit thin-skinned, but the comment he got so criticiszed about was right - German troops should follow German economical interests.

I absolutely agree, and I would have expected him to fight through this argument, if he had only tried. He was already elected for a 2nd tenure, what should have bothered him?
 
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