AfD Strong Result in German Election

Former communist youth leader, childless cat lady and open borders enthusiast Angela Merkel has won another German national election, winning a fourth term as chancellor. But her party, what passes for the center-Right in modern Germany, did worse than expected and scored it poorest result since WWII. Meanwhile, the patriotic Alternative for Germany (AfD) scored higher than expected and has globalists kvetching about the return of a pro-German nationalist party to parliament. Politico reports in an extremely biased article:

Angela Merkel secured a fourth term as chancellor in Sunday’s elections, but her victory was overshadowed by a far-right surge that will put an openly racist party into the center of German politics for the first time since World War II and sent shockwaves across the European continent and beyond.

The anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) garnered more than 13 percent of the vote, according to preliminary returns — a result that bested even its highest score in pre-election polls and put a far-right party in parliament for the first time in the country’s postwar history.

Though Merkel secured another term, her center-right bloc recorded its worst result since 1949, winning around 33 percent of the vote, down from over 41 percent in 2013.

…The AfD saw its support swell during Germany’s refugee crisis only for it to wane earlier this year. But it charged back in the final month of the campaign. The surprise finish by the populist party will reverberate across Europe, where a string of underwhelming finishes by populist parties, including in the Netherlands and France, fueled hope in the political mainstream that the AfD would also underperform.

The party appears to have benefited from a groundswell of anti-establishment sentiment amid an election campaign in which it was often difficult to distinguish the positions of the main parties. Merkel, in particular, ran a campaign that avoided controversy, focusing on issues like Germany’s strong economy instead addressing more uncomfortable topics, such as refugees and immigration.

Voter frustration was apparent in exit poll interviews, with about 60 percent of AfD voters saying they cast their ballot for the party to protest the policies of the current government.