"Didi" and Steimle — How Comedians Are Getting Involved in the Election Campaign

Expert Sees Risky Move for the CDU

In his assessment, Hallervorden’s involvement with Schulze is riskier than Steimle’s with the AfD. “With Steimle, the positions are almost identical to what the AfD puts forward—playing on the GDR past, emphasizing an Eastern German identity, and stoking doubts about the state and its top representatives like Merz. You could hardly fit a sheet of paper between Steimle and the AfD,” he says. With Hallervorden and Schulze’s CDU, it’s a bit different. “It’s risky. I don’t really think the CDU will benefit substantially from this.” He does not consider the appearances with Hallervorden to be a successful campaign move.

Schulze’s main topic this evening in Dessau is freedom of speech. He doesn’t agree with everything Hallervorden says, but he doesn’t want to leave freedom of speech in the hands of a single party that claims you can no longer say anything. “Perhaps it has also been a mistake on the part of the CDU in recent years that it hasn’t engaged in enough of these controversial debates,” Schulze says on stage. But that’s the only way to build trust with the people. “I don’t want to govern a country where everyone only says what might be popular in Magdeburg.”

Hallervorden Lashes Out at CDU Bigwigs

And so Hallervorden cheerfully continues to lash out this evening—against the new CDU Secretary-General Franziska Hoppermann, who told *Bild* a few days ago regarding Hallervorden’s performances that, for the CDU of Germany, there is no genocide in Gaza. “This Ms. Hoppermann—even if I were doing pantomime, she’d surely still find a word that’s out of bounds,” he says. He also takes a swipe at Steimle: He considers the fact that Steimle sang the GDR anthem “a mockery of those who died at the Wall.”

Hallervorden’s main theme is peace. “In all wars, victory comes with ‘bella ciao, bella ciao’ (..) people die like mayflies,” he sings later. The hall is full; the air is warm and stuffy. Hallervorden is thus raising an issue that tends to be championed by parties other than the CDU in eastern Germany. Is Schulze perhaps trying to poach voters not only from the AfD but also from the BSW and The Left with “Didi”?

Peace as a Top Issue

Höhne is skeptical that this can succeed. While the issue is more important in the East than in the West, he notes, it is already being addressed by the political platforms of several parties—including the AfD, the BSW, and Die Linke. It hardly fits with the CDU’s stance, as the party still sees itself as a transatlantic partner and leaves no doubt that Russia is the aggressor in the war in Ukraine. “That’s why I don’t believe this will help reach new voters,” says Höhne.

The 90-year-old Hallervorden is an old hand when it comes to election campaigns. He had previously supported Helmut Schmidt (SPD) in election campaigns, as well as Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Walter Scheel (both FDP). Now he praises Schulze’s backbone for “saying: We won’t let those in Berlin dictate to us how we’re supposed to run our campaign in Saxony-Anhalt.” He directed this remark at Hoppermann and said he was “pretty sure” everyone in the room would still be around “long after Ms. Hoppermann has been voted out.” Laughter and applause.

Expert Höhne says a party should consider whom it offers a platform to: Who exactly is coming forward with what positions, and how do those positions align with the party’s own values? “If the two are too far apart, a public party event might not be the right place. After all, a party’s primary goal is to promote its own positions.”

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