Climate curve ball

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Political fortunes can turn on the smallest of words or gestures. Scenes of German election front-runner Armin Laschet laughing on Saturday as the president stood nearby expressing his sorrow for the victims of flooding could be one such moment. Last week's floods continue to dominate media coverage in Germany, with the death toll approaching 200, towns in ruins and transport disrupted in the worst-hit states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. The specter of more climate change-driven weather disasters is now resounding for German voters. Chancellor Angela Merkel didn't enter the debate over the images of Laschet, the North Rhine-Westphalia state leader and her Christian Democratic Union's lead candidate for September's election. She instead visited affected areas of the Rhineland yesterday with Social Democratic Party state premier Malu Dreyer. The devastation was surreal, said the chancellor, adding that more urgent action was needed to address climate change. Images of her grasping the hand of Dreyer prompted the hashtag #Merkel to trend on Twitter, along with comments praising her leadership. Laschet, who quickly apologized for joking with aides as the president spoke, can only hope the contrast with Merkel doesn't erode the CDU-led bloc's poll lead over the Greens of Annalena Baerbock, whose own missteps have weighed on her party's popularity. After all, there is a precedent: SPD Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder turned the course of the 2002 election when he rushed to the scene of flooding on the River Elbe while his conservative challenger, Edmund Stoiber, dithered. Schroeder snatched victory from defeat and reconstituted his coalition with the Greens. Elections can be relatively staid affairs in Germany. The sense here is that this one has a long way to run yet. — Alan Crawford

A man rests amid debris during a clean-up in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Germany on Saturday. Photographer: Liesa Johannssen-Koppitz/Bloomberg Click here to follow Bloomberg Politics on Twitter and tell us how we're doing or what we're missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net.

Global Headlines

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