Merkel's meager motions
Finally, Chancellor Angela Merkel has publicly called by name the party challenging Germany's established politics. For too long, the conservative populist party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), has been either ignored or brushed off by the CDU, including Merkel.
Things must be called by their names, however. Anything else obscures reality and leaves the impression that the political elite has lost touch with average citizens. That is the AfD's main argument, anyway, with which it's winning the day.
So far, so good. But what next? Most important now is for Merkel to win back voters' confidence – not by admitting wrongdoing, but rather by recognizuing that her policy goals had not been sufficiently explained.
To that end, the chancellor used her traditional speech during the Bundestag's general budget debate to list everything already underway to address asylum, refugees and integration policy. Much has already been set out in regulations, helping clarify a confusing situation from two years ago. However, there is much left to do, as Merkel herself likes to say.
Daring the competition
Winning back voter confidence also means taking on the political competition with greater force. Merkel seemed to suggest she's ready to do just that: Taking concerns seriously and properly explaining facts are two sides of the same coin, she said. Under this maxim, Merkel's CDU can finally go on the offensive against its political rivals.
Merkel would have to abandon the dangerous lies she's propagated about alternative policies. One should recall that Merkel's earlier remarks to that effect lent Alternative for Germany its party name.
The AfD could at some point have governing responsibilities, having managed to engage many who once belonged to the country's great middle class: doctors, lawyers and businessmen - and women. The AfD should not be left to continue cultivating its image as a victim and outsider; after all, real politics is more dificult than populist slogans.
Not only a question of language
But trust for Merkel is not easy to regain. It demands time and good leadership. Merkel's appeal to Bundestag members to temper their rhetoric – the AfD is better at verbal escalations – smacks of political correctness.
However, Merkel can do better at getting the message across herself, and for better or worse, she will have plenty of opportunities to do so. There are still a few state elections between now and the Bundestag election in September 2017 for AfD to make headlines for itself.
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