Control – rewritten interviews, anxious deputy and lustiness

Picture robert habeck: sven almond / picture annalena baerbock: seems surmount / CC-BY-SA-4.0

Excerpt from the book "the green. How the okopartei wants to upload the country"

The green lives that everything appears slightly. Hardly any other politician or other politician are so skilfully scene as robert habeck and annalena baerbock. You just have to scroll through your instagram accounts. It lies on a leather couch shaking arms behind the head. She sits in front of it and looks in her smartphone. Both relax in the sunlight on the balcony of the business, they with sunglasses, he in T-shirt, it could be somewhere in the toscana. In photos for one taz-interview are both laughing with each other, or she flushes him into his ear, intimate and familiar, almost like a loving couple.

Instagram is the social network that best use the greatest. Especially young people like to look through the hub’s pictures that show a better, greater world. Optics is more important than text, it’s not as fitting as on facebook and not as cynical and hamisch as on twitter. Here is DAUL, who adopted in january 2019 under active sympathy of the media of facebook and twitter, prussently and very active.

Let’s get stuck in a nature reserve of wild horses. Let’s take a look at the franklin delano roosevelt memorial in washington D. C.. Let him laughish with baerbock signs with slogans for the hamburg choice high ("the time is now"to).

"The message is: we stand for the modern germany"

Spontaneously, the pictures are not, even if they work. Dabeck and baerbock are usually accompanied by professional photographers. Habel himself has already said it: politics is always staging. You can not communicate, the communication scientist paul watzlawick set. Therefore, it would be foolish to accuse the green chairman to draw the fact that they draw a public picture of themselves.

But how do you do it is very interesting. Both like to show themselves as guys like you and me, they give themselves in a good mood, relaxed, okologically sensitive, but also hedonistic. The message is: we stand for the modern germany.

The great knowledge: there are still the good things, but above all you have to look good. Freely after the cultural socio-germanist andreas reckwitz, baerbock and dabeck are political prototypes of spatmoder subjects that perform their special self before the audience. Just living his life is no longer enough to live the modern individual. Your own life is carefully curated so that it is fairly.

The agriturismo vacation in liguria, the latest iphone, the vintage road bike, the coffee machine made of herbstem stainless steel, even the carefully maintained lactose intolerance – everything becomes a distinction feature, for the card of one’s own special feature. And the social networks are the catalysts of self-reflection, here all scream, and all at the same time: look. Me. At.

The philosopher ariadne of schirach has the phanomenon of self-representation in social networks, the competition behind it and what makes everything with young people in their book you should not work analyzed. She writes:

"The personal appearance has to be ready for effort or rather how the styling is in any case casual, as if you have to avoid the impression at any cost, you have somehow made somehow."

Baerbock and dabeck fulfill these requirements perfectly.

Authenticity in social networks is in the vast majority of a grandiose lug. Behind the lease perfection shown on instagram, hard work hides. Any pittoreske strab scene in paris, the official selfie in the sunset, the seemingly spontaneous group photo, all the beautiful pictures are usually professionally credited, carefully arranged and reworked. That’s complicated, that takes.

Who has ever sat in a restaurant in a restaurant, which photographed their caesar salad a dozen times, then the best picture with filters come out, the woman, how much time for the staging of one’s own life. An instagram-based life is a fairly exhausting mindset. At any time you have to scan everything according to scenes that correspond to the desired self-image.

"Laughing and stressed hand in hand"

Even with the green go looseness and stressed hand in hand. You want to work casual, nice and authentic at all power traces. Will dabeck from the picture on sunday asked if his style – bleak hairstyle, oter times T-shirt – is a political message, he answers:

"I’m trying not to freeze when it’s cold, and not to sweat when it’s warm. Otherwise, I take the clothes that are clean."

You can discuss it, whether it is a continuation or backrest that, more recently, manner should look like her and reflect her clothes. But the goods a moment in which my little daughter was asking: "seriously, dad?" especially the people who claim to give nothing to their appearance are often especially vain. Dabeck answers the question of his style obviously with an emergency lug. Of course, he knows that he looks good, and of course he superimposed very well what he attracts and how he wants to work.

He only does not exist, because that’s so terrible uncool goods. My thesis is: no party dominates the game rules of modern staging as perfect as the green. Against grune performance, christian lindner’s schwarz-weub images from the NRW state election campaign 2017 look like a photo album from the 1990s.

Every detail is choreographed, for example with party days. From the driving graduating song, the camera righteous shield-high-hotting action to the growing background, which must be well done on television. Grunen know what the media science teaches: average day-looking gclicers remember what they see – and not what is said.

Saskia esken and robert habeck

If you like to see the difference between a dilettantic and a successful staging, you can talk to youtube two speeches. Once those who held saskia esken on the SPD party congress in december 2019 – and then robert habecks in november 2019 in bielefeld. Both times politicians apply for the party presidency, but between the optics are worlds. Esken speaks in front of a woman’s wall. Aseptically, that looks, kuhl and trist. The small SPD logo acts as if it glued an intern with pattex to the lectern. The SPD boss could also be in a hospital corridor in monchengladbach.

Very different robert habeck. He speaks in front of the opulent aerial view of a forest. Tree crowns, sattes grun, sunlight. Next to it a second huge picture, a luminous glacier between steep rocks. Even the television viewer that threatens to moor on the home sofa is immediately clear to which party it works. Gladly place grune in the building background huge sunflowers. In photos, the later looks like baerbock or daheck had a halo of yellow bleeding.

Those performative skill is also evident in everyday life, in apparent trifles, but that are important. The press spokesman intervenes if dabeck for the photo shoot for the mirrors next to baerbock leans against a tree. To machohaft the pose, could arrive badly in women. A free photographer will be paid to me that it is quite difficult, baerbock and dabeck "normal" photograph.

As soon as you bring the camera, you start immediately, "ahem, funny" posen to take. If dabeck, baerbock and federal builder michael kellner, a man measuring 2.04 meters, present the design of furs principal program, put the party feet unasks at the first stage of the bean. Waiter stays down. So the three appear almost roughly on pictures.

Years ago, the taz-photographic action a very unfavorable image of the group chairman anton hofreiter for an interview I had guided with him. The photographer had printed at the moment, in the hofriter had closed his eyes. He looked like he’s just a nod. The grunen spokesman welcomed me in the following year several times with the funny joke, you have to be very careful with the pictures at the taz.

That SZ magazine called a review of DAULS instagram profile with the dry line together: "there, habeck is coming up loose. Very cool. And very stressed." this is true for the greats overhead. Behind her lustiness controls congestion, behind her supposed authenticity accurate planning. Thus they have understood the rules of the instagram era as well as no other party.

"Funeral as union, SPD, left party and FDP"

But it’s not just about beautiful pictures. That the grunen are so successful, is also due to their unconditional will. They are a purposeful union, SPD, left party and FDP, and they go more disciplined. Schleswig-holstein’s minister prosident daniel gunther (CDU) says:

"The grunes of today operate power policy very professionally. They make politics with a literacy as the CDU had 20 years ago. Blob no dispute, no aviaries, closedness goes over everything. In it they are better than us."

Gunther laughs. But he sounds a little jealous.

What joschka fischer and jurgen trittin had to build the green at the time, namely that the best in the government was possible, has learned the whole party. From the rebels of the 1980s, which weathered against the established parties, there is hardly anyway. Grununes have become a power party. Under dabeck and baerbock they have discovered the blessings of a centralist control. One who is well acquainted with the drainage says half a joke, half serious: "we are just to the model central committee."

An example is interviews for newspapers or online media. In germany, it is ugly that journalist * inside politicians present present in front of the publication. This authorization should avoid misunderstandings by shorts. The interviewed thirst responds, for example, when a false sense is created or a formulation does not correspond to the actual intention. The green bosses set this procedure maximum at your favor.

You write your interviews so largely, as hardly any other politician was trusted. Rewrought messages that were not conveyed in the original language are added, unirranted off. Whole answers are sometimes painted and newly formulated. Every word is checked for how it could work in the news agencies. Not only the boss * love control.

I only know a single green politician who does not want to read his quotes after a phone call: the MEP sven giegold. All other authorize and umder himself individual quotes.

Congress 1985 in offenburg: "early everything could happen"

Even with party events, which were still good for surprise, nothing will survive the chance. When grune met, fruhe could happen to everything. What happens to the leading application? Where meckern the left? What says christian strobele? The board trembled in front of the base, because he always went danger of losing an important vote. Anger, passion and a bit of chaos were static guest at the grunen.

At her congress in 1985 in offenburg, the delegates traveled closed to wackersdorf to support the protest against the atomic reprocessing plant planned there. When there was a special party conference in bielefeld in 1999 for the participation in kosovo war, BUHRS echoed through the hall. The times they are A-changin.

Now: "the ratio of the green tip to dispute is an instrumental"

Today, party days are american looking, carefully orchestrated policy shows, which serve mainly the goal of placing a message in the media. Although hundreds of amendments are usually placed on the lead application of the executive board, but rough conflicts are no longer below. And if, when, in advance, they are trained away from the party tip or buried in substantially formulated compromises.

Prominent grune still love to describe their party as a particularly dispute. You know: A little nonconformism is always good. Dativ promises in april 2018 at the start of the debate on a new policy program, the green wanted to "dispute". Yes, he is thankful for dispute. You have to call internal contradictions.

More dispute dare, that sounds in a complicated world with unsuitable conflicts only time, who has the right answers ready immediately? Unfortunately, the promise in practice remains little. The ratio of the green tip to dispute is an instrumental.

She allows him where he uses him, but drops him where he could harm. Good examples delivers the congress in bielefeld 2019, which should be all about economic policy. Baerbock and habel for dafur to demand a minimum wage of 12 euros in the future, as well as SPD, left party and unions do.

The reason: the at the time current minimum wage of 9.19 euros per hour does not extend despite full-time job to finance life in a coal town. Who works for such a pay for a lifetime, ends in the retirement poverty. Baerbock and habel want to profile the green socially politically.

Over the 12 euro brand you agree, but over the way there is not. Baerbock, habog, federal builder michael kellner and others want to oblige the stopular minimum wage commission politically to the 12 euros, so they demand a fast, symbolic increase.

Markus kurth, pension and labor market expert in the parliamentary group, is promoting the commission – and to ease the increase. In the commission, representatives of employers and workers are sitting as a collective bargaining. Kurth’s approach became a long time, but the structural logical.

However, he is not good for crisp headlines. Kurth is encouraged internally to put his proposal at the congress to vote. The green top has nothing against dispute in this point. No matter how he goes out, the great hours as a social cummerer there.

Habel shows journalists at the inside extra on the dissensing, says he calculates with a combat vote. That’s how it happens. Kurth is subject, the party peak is committed by. A win-win situation: the bosses started out of the vote, the focus of the media is directed to a desired topic.

The debate on homopathy

Rendered is the green quarrel when she throws a vast light on the party. The debate on homopathy, which also began before the bielefeld party congress, is legendary. It’s about an uncomfortable question: should the general public financing fragile voodoo medicine via the health insurance companies?

Homopathic agents are usually so diluted so that an active ingredient is no longer detectable. They work – the best of many studies – not over the placebo effect. Nevertheless, some statutory health insurance companies in germany take the costs because demand among patients is roughly. Even at the doctor’s inner is homopathy popular. They are happy to prescribe as a gentle alternative to classical school medicine. And many green-resistants and members swore on globuli and co., there are many connections to an esoteric milieu.

Young and scientific oriented people hold the means for hokus pokus. They formulate a harsh criticism of homopathy privileges, which should be tuned on the party congress. "We grune always refer to science when it comes to climate means", says the doctor paula piechotta in october 2019. "Therefore, we also have to be able to position ourselves elsewhere against esotericism and scientific mindfulness."

The green top threatens a faith war, where they can only lose. A public yes for homopathy represents the greats into the esoteric spinning corner, a no impressed many elimansters inside. Now a drama takes its course in several files.

Baerbock and dabel want to avoid a tuning. A first attempt to overfore the topic in a specialized person and to delete from the agenda, fails. A second succeed. Shortly before the congress, the executive board agrees with homopathy critics and committees inside to outsource the topic into a commission. The decision is a masterpiece of political non-communication. He uberawt the actual conflict with many metathems, so the greats ask for example: "how do we define the concept of science in medicine?" but that has nothing to do with the core – cash financing yes or no – nothing -. The word "homeopathy" does not appear on the three pages.

But also about the commission, who conducts DAUNKAG, is not a good star. After indiscretions have been pushed out to the press, the party tip lost the round again – and formulates a position for homopathy itself. In the design FURS property program it is called:

"Services that are meaningfully meaningful and justified and their effectiveness is scientifically proven must be taken over by the solidar community."

HABAG CONNECTING IN AUGUST 2020 A pragmatic solution: health insurance companies should pay homopathy. But only those insured persons who have chosen a special tariff.

Ordre per mufti instead of base democracy, announcement from above instead of chairs. That "model central committee" leave pits. Baerbock and habel gladly claim, surveys and media debates love you cold. But in the homopathy debacle, there is an almost unhealthy fixation on media effect.

Only so that no misunderstandings arise here: the green urge after control is lacking. Also your desire to get closed to the outside is comprehensible. The excitation mechanisms of the media and social networks punish disagreement. A debate is quickly reversed in a dispute, often described a substantive confrontation as power struggle.

Unity

Closity, especially before elsewhere, is at the top of the wish list of all party tips. We too wahler * inside are generally a contradictory species. We are happy to assert in theory that a democratic dispute culture is uneasy. But in the end we agree for those who are most harmonic.

The greats have experienced this often enough in their story. That’s why they are so determined to do everything right. "In a faster and incalculable media society, it is all the more important that the green, a growing apparatus, talk to one voice", says election campaign michael kellner. "Otherwise, people ask: what do they want to tell us?" harmonious messages are hard work.

Tomorrow

In session weeks by 8.30 o’clock, in session-free weeks at 9 o’clock the most important grunes in the so-called morning position switch together by phone. Habel, baerbock and waiters, the group chairman katrin goring-eckardt and anton hofriter as well as faction supplies britta habelmann.

Also, the press spokesters and burolders are discussed in. A speaker carries out the chairage. Then the familiar round goes the day mentally: which topics are on? Which message we send? Which formulations are good? Sometimes an employee sends a formulation proposal on a topic by mail to all, embassy management by circulation decision. Even with important events, a voice scheme is tuned between party and fractional peaks.

The consequence is that leading grune sometimes sometimes doing well. But the border between professionality and control delusion is fine, and sometimes the grunen you. The desire for unity occasionally leads to a spiritual conformity that counteracted the picture of baerbock and dabeck.

I already mentioned the interview for escape policy, the baerbock of suddeutsche zeitung gave in december 2018. What she said mostly corresponded to the program situation of the grunes, but a sentence was new: factual asylum seekers had to be preferred in deportation. For green, the word "deportation" anyway, if you’re reluctant to take your mouth, that was a new sound.

The okopartei defended closed angela merkel’s decision to leave the boundaries for hundreds of thousands in 2015. Grune profiled in the years again and again as a camphor for humanity and cosmopolitanity. And now the chairman wanted to use deportations as a kind of extended criminal law?

What happened after that is remarkable: a journalist of mirror online asked bundestag member and other green for critical opinions. The mentioned hurt dear, they did not want to be quoted. More: you immediately informed baerbock and the press office about that a critical journalist researched. Bose could be said: grunen meps attach great importance to being a distinctiveness. But soon they rather ask the boss for permission.

"Three prominent manner, just a woman. That could be a story"

I have had similar experiences. Only one example: before the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the grunes, the press office sent an invitation in which joschka fischer, hans-christian strobele and federal president frank-walter steinmeier, and marianne birther, the former federal federal representative for the stasi documents.

Three prominent manner, just a woman. That could be a story. At any rate, I thought. I sent an SMS to several feminist politicians in the green – with a simple question: whether this is not a very donated party? Apparently the request made internal for some excitement. The jerk call came in this case not by the requested people, but from the press spokeswoman. The conversation does not extend.

Sometimes the impression that it would like to make the green guided goods when journalists on research only talked to the press office. The goods from gruner sight exercise practical, because so got the openity a scripted reality from a single source.

To the honorary rescue of the greatness is mentioned that my suspicion of the man’s dominance was unfounded at the festival. Also influential women like the fridays for-future activist luisa neubauer or schleswig-holstein’s landtagsvizeprasidente aminata toure received prominent appearances. However, my request had considerably asked the thoughtprozess how to reveal a party to participate. Now you can see instant, internal warning warnings, agreements and coordinated language regulations as an ID card of professionalitat.

As I said, unity is commonly applicable to parties as a prerequisite for success. But all this has a blurred side effect: the interested population gets inner grunge discourse – and thus the development of positions – barely with. What is possible with other parties not to discuss content from different kops in the newspaper, is increasingly difficult for the greatness, if not: excluded.

For this, the number of tone parts of the party are too carefully. Topics that do not fit in the stuff, baerbock and dabeck consistently shut off, such as the question. A worked eternity hooked journalist in 2019 and 2020, who will take over the chancellor candidate. Completely rightly, people want to know who they ruled.

But baerbock and dabeck deserted the same questions with the same floors. Yes, often they did as if the questions were a document for that media had a purely lapse of politics. Motto: it only pay the content. This in turn was a sub-complex defamation of a guided, which lives like no other in germany from perfectly staged personalization.

The coalition question

Although baerbock and DAUL handle the coalition question. Grununen keeps all open, a covenism with the union as well as a center-left bundis with SPD and left party or a traffic light with SPD and FDP. Again there is a tension between the public interest and the green desire for control and coarsely flexibility.

Black grun became a very different policy than, say: grun-red-red. With the union, many wishes of the green simply can not be realized. It will not carry the farewell to hartz IV, not the abolition of spouse’s splitting or the importation of a wealth tax.

Especially with sociooconomic topics, the cuts with SPD and left party are much gross. And many of whale probably liked to know before choosing, what they have to expect. But baerbock and daheck make the openness with mantrained repeated zero messages in the uncertainty.

Such economical communication is for many unsatisfactory, but from gruner view but tactically smart because they leave maximum scope. The guided can cashize the K question in the general election campaign in bad survey values without losing the face. And she can coal after the election, with whom she wants, which is only in the face of complicated majority translations only time.

Many perceive the grunes, especially as an opposition party, because they have not ruled in the confederation since the schroder-‘s years. But in reality, they are used to government in a wide variety of constellations because they register in eleven bundlanders. Without them, nothing works in the bundesrat. Since they conveyed over 45 votes, they can block approval subjects – and enforce changes. If the gross coalition wanted a majority for their laws, they had to draw several of green-regulated landlords on their side.

Grununes are flexible enough to arrange with everything, which offers the democratic spectrum ideologically. From limhart conservative to left. In baden-wurttemberg, winfried kretschmann has been ruling since 2011, the first grune minister prosident of the republic, first with the SPD, then with the CDU. In saxony and saxony-anhalt, the grunes work together with legal conservative christian democrat. In thuringen, berlin and bremen red-redgrune coves the state.

The voting behavior of the lander is organized in a specially established format: the G-fireplace. The meeting of important land trading workers with representatives * inside the federal party was founded in april 2011 and will meet thursday night before the federal council meetings in a fireplace room in the state representation baden-wurttembergs in berlin – therefore the name.

"The basis is very interested in participation"

Here positions are matched to GROKO projects, differences discussed and if possible, sucked out. "General goal of coordination is a closed occurrence of the party as a whole", it is called in a 2017 analysis of the heinrich boll foundation. Also from this round little penetrates. The bund-lander coordination works like the rest of the party like a well-stocked machine that meshes softly and effectively in front of him.

So the grunes have become a boring pile with tendency to control? Well, the goods to be claimed then a bit unfair. Of course, the party is argued as in other parties too. Discuss idealists in district links, which make a job, family and sports club politics, volunteer and without a centable.

In spite of the professional staging, grune party days – for that, is mercilessed to mercilessly overdrawn the schedule because they are supervised with content-related debates. Lustfully, the delegates argue until the night, often because of formulations that are indispensable for outdoor use and how little things reveal.

Expanded in the federal labor communities (BAGEN), inner-party think tanks, where basic members discuss everything possible. They have often become expert by their profession to experts in certain topics. The results are supplied to the board.

At all, the basis is very interested in participation. This was involved in working at a new principle program. 4447 members had written in july on the program, federal fuel cellar announced in august 2020 on facebook. 2404 proposals were made. "This is surprising my expectations of digital participation."

Even in the parliamentary group, in which only political professionals sit, it comes from time to time and on to tangible conflicts. The purchase on-site vouchers worth 250 euros, which demanded the grunen group during the corona pandemic, did not help all deputies helpful. Some saw the costs of maaking critically, other stores that so much unocologic consumption was boosted.

Also, a decision of the bundestag against the propalastinian BDS movement in may 2019 ensured internal for zoff. Some found the decryption text to woodcut style. Nevertheless, the rough majority of the group agreed. But both times the twisted the twist under the radar of a coordinity.

That’s because baerbock and habel have domesticated the green companion lust like no other guided in front of them. Only destroyed debates penetrate into front, most of the remain hidden behind closed doors. We are above all a staging, which is missing the spontaneous and out-of-the-facts that distinguishes real dispute. That’s not stupid.

Probably control, discipline and dispute prere are not the worst strategies if you want to become majority in an excited media company. But the greats also do not have a non-undisable risk. They pretend to be the most authentic power in german politics, but are very unauthentic in central points. A strictlycontrolled apparatus that can be sophisticated about an unconventional image can act in a long time quite silly.

This is an excerpt from the book of ulrich schulte "the green. How the okopartei wants to upload the country", rowohlt verlag 2021, 224 pages, 16, – euro