Trouble in Seehofer’s “Paradise”
Since 1945 Bavarians have consistently elected the pro-business, socially conservative CSU. Tomorrow's state election could change all of that.
Horst Seehofer (C) of the Bavarian Christian Democrats (CSU) and Chancellor Angela Merkel of the German Christian Democrats (CDU) meet with other party leaders in preliminary talks over the creation of a new government coalition on November 16, 2017 in Berlin. Sean Gallup / Getty
In 2017 — the year before he was ejected as Bavarian state premier and dispatched to Berlin to head up the Interior Ministry — Christian Social Union (CSU) leader Horst Seehofer described his beloved home state as “the gateway to paradise.”
Germany’s prosperous and populous southeastern corner is so synonymous with the Germanic good life that most clichés associated with Europe’s biggest economy (think ruddy-faced old men passing out into their beers at Oktoberfest) are in fact typically Bavarian. It is a tradition-loving, somewhat insular land that combines alpine delights with low unemployment and high wages.
Yet trouble is afoot in Seehofer’s paradise — at least for the party he heads. Polls ahead of tomorrow’s state elections in Bavaria point to an electoral wipeout for his CSU, falling as low as 33 percent (compared to 47.7 percent in the last election).
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