Alternative für Deutschland now 2nd in the polls
DW reports:
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has overtaken the Social Democrats (SPD), the junior party in Germany’s governing coalition, in voter popularity to become Germany’s second-strongest party, behind Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, according to the Deutschlandtrend poll by public broadcaster ARD.
The AfD moved up two percentage points since the last survey on September 9, bringing it to 18 percent — one percentage point more than the SPD, which lost a point. Merkel’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc, which has led German governments since 2005, also slipped a point to 28 percent, representing its worst result since the survey was launched in 1997.
AfD are benefiting from the backlash over immigration and refugees. Most people support some immigration and helping some refugees. But very few people believe in open borders where you just allow millions to flow into your country.
The poll results in total were:
Right Parties 55%
- CDU/CSU 28%
- AfD 18%
- FDP 9%
Left Parties 42%
- SPD 17%
- Greens 15%
- Left 10%
The AfD leader is Alice Weidel. She is 39 years old and has a PhD in international development. She is a lesbian who rails against political correctness. It is not impossible she could be Chancellor one day.