While everybody got excited about the new “Left Party” growing into being East Germany’s biggest party about two weeks ago with 31% vs. 29% (CDU), this weeks results for East Germany are even more stunning:

Left Party: 33%
CDU: 27%
SPD: 27%

That is 6% to catch up on! Now we’re all waiting for it to hit the 50% mark within the next 10 years and lets sees those western politicians regret that they ever helped West Germany swallow the GDR.
For all of Germany the percentages are:

CDU: 42%
SPD: 28%
Left Party: 12%
Greens: 8%
FDP: 7%

or in other words: 49% for Merkel and 48% against. If it would happen to be that SPD, the Greens and the Left Party got a majority, I am sure that CDU and SPD will find oneanother. They have done that once before (1966-69) and back then CDU and SPD governed together with the FDP as the only opposition party. On oe hand they used that time to make laws that would let the government take away all kinds of democratic rights during “dangerous times” and they were planning on switching to the US election system (winner takes all) which would have meant that they probably would have been the ony two parties left in the future. Luckily they didn’t get that last point through. On the other hand, it was also then that the the Outer Parliamentary Opposition (APO) saw it’s birth. And to a large extend, that was what 1968 was all about in Germany.

In other words: exciting times lie ahead. By now I think it’s close to impossible to squeeze the Left Party under 5% before the elections, although I am sure they won’t be able to get all those 12%.