Höcke in Greiz: AfD boss loses election campaign despite the election victory of the party

Höcke in Greiz: AfD boss loses election campaign despite the election victory of the party

In the last elections in Thuringia, Björn Höcke, the head of the AfD, was confronted with an interesting dilemma. Although his party received over a third of the votes in Thuringia, Höcke met a completely different reality in his own constituency. Instead of a clear victory, he had to give up a CDU candidate. The political scientist Johannes Hillje refers to interesting aspects that affect Höcke's person and strategy.

The situation in Höcke's Greiz constituency indicates that even some AfD voters deal with the AfD top candidate ambivalent. This is revealed in conversations in which some Höcke party's sympathizers choose, but still distance themselves from his person. "I choose the AfD, but not the Höcke", some comment. This has its reason in the way Höcke presents himself and interacts with other party colleagues.

Höcke's appearance and its consequences

The person Höcke has a special effect in the political landscape of Thuringia. Politologist Hillje explains that part of the electorate does not see itself as right -wing extremist and therefore has difficulty accepting Höcke. "These people are cheating with Höcke," says Hillje, pointing to the area of tension between Höcke's character and the perception of his voters.

his way of staging himself as a kind of "Messiah" does not matter to everyone. While others like Tino Chrupalla present themselves as a "man from the people", Höcke's presentation differs drastically by his complex rhetoric and pathetic expression. "He is elitist. And many people who are averse to elite structures do not like that," further explains Hillje and ponderes how this attitude itself could lead to conflicts within the AfD.

In the last campaign duels, Höcke often seemed overwhelmed. Observations show that he looked nervous and angry in these contexts. "The TV appearances did not use him," says Hillje and notes that some party members have also critically perceived this. However, despite these adversity, the question remains how very Höcke's position is endangered, especially since it helped the AfD to win the election in a state election. Hillje speculates that his position is strengthened by this event, despite the doubts he harvests.

the look into the political future

Another point that appears in the conversations around Höcke is the rumor that he could switch to the Bundestag in the near future. Hillje estimates that this is not very plausible, since Höcke cannot simply take over the head of his faction. "He plans and thinks very long -term," says Hillje, which points out that Höcke carefully weighs his possibilities and is probably waiting for the right moment to expand his political career.

his position in Thuringia remains strong for the time being, even if part of the electorate has difficulties with his personal style and the associated political culture. Höcke currently has no significant rivals in the AfD, but there is a certain skepticism compared to extremist tendencies. It turns out that Höcke remains a dominant figure in the party, even if not all within the AfD deal with his ideology or public presentation.