The Greens are unlikely to iron out this mistake

But what about …? These are the key words. But what about Hillary Clinton’s emails; but what about the résumé, the quotes. “But what about …?” Diverts back and forth, “But what about …?” Is destructive, at least slowing down, often stopping, sometimes destructive. The English term also sounds harmless: “Whataboutism”.

That means: Sure, the climate crisis is an important topic of our time, but what about (but what about) Greta Thunberg’s tone of voice? And even if the other side gets angry at this point and says that Thunberg’s voice has nothing to do with the climate, even then the debate was carried on by the real thing.

When the first charges against Donald Trump’s company and against Trump’s shadow man Allen Weisselberg were brought up recently in New York for tax fraud, Eric Trump, the son, cursed Hunter Biden, the son of the other side, and his painting, his drug use. America’s media, addicted to clicks and quotes, had a festival, banal, irrelevant, popular.

The real thing here in Germany would be an analysis of the corona policy, including course corrections for the next legislative period. Climate policy. Social injustice. Artificial intelligence and the labor market of the future. The real thing: a debate about the parties’ programs and the country’s domestic and foreign policy course.

Annalena Baerbock would have had a chance

That would be, almost forgotten, an adult, enlightened election campaign. The election campaign of 2021 is neither, nor adult nor enlightened. And this is exactly what the Greens should have known. The fact that you did not expect the “But what about …?” Election campaign, did not prepare for it, is not professional, and you will hardly be able to iron out this mistake because there will not be enough time.

The mood in the country, after Merkel, after Corona and because of the climate crisis, could have brought about a change. Annalena Baerbock would have had a chance to become Chancellor, maybe even a head of government like New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern.

But for that she should have foreseen what was coming and she should have known how to attack Armin Laschet. Before the candidacy, she would have had to make or correct tax payments and curriculum vitae in order to be prepared. Would have. If I now take Baerbock’s book in hand, then I would like to believe Christian Schertz (note: who is also my lawyer) and Baerbock’s other defenders, who are talking about a campaign.

But that’s the way it is, and anyone who writes texts knows that when researching, you sometimes move blocks from A to B, for example from Wikipedia into a folder or into the manuscript.

If you want to write a good text, the work begins now: From what has just been heaved into the manuscript, new sentences arise with your own thoughts, your own words, your own rhythm, your own sound.

Anyone who just wants to put a book on the market because it’s part of the election campaign has talks with a ghostwriter. The ghostwriter copies paragraphs into the manuscript, and because he wants to finish, he leaves the stuff there, does not rewrite, does not model – his share of the fee for the prominent election campaigner is, let’s say, 10,000 euros.

And the celebrity deliberately hides the ghostwriter on the cover because his name would dim its own shine.

Was it like that? Then the candidate would be trapped. The only coherent explanation would make her a woman who wants to present herself more brilliantly than she is; And it is precisely this image that she fights in this election campaign of the “But what about …?” era.
Klaus Brinkbäumer is program director of the MDR in Leipzig. You can reach him at Klaus.Brinkbaeumer@extern.tagesspiegel.de or on Twitter at: @Brinkbaeumer.