However, they really have a low profile in all welfare things and their manifesto is awfully short on numbers and specific details. This, along with the fact, that they helped push through the latest SPD reforms makes them pretty unattractive for disappointed SPD voters. Which is really sad, because if anybody is looking for a strong left party, the Greens are the obvious choice, IMHO.
I'm not really sure about the implications of the visa scandal. Joshka Fischer was our most popular polutician in the last 7 years with a 70+ approval rating and he's tanked a little. The Greens however stayed pretty much at 8%, no loss, but also no gains.
hesk: by "incredibly boring" I meant the style, not the substance.
I'm relieved to read :-)
In the last few years, I saw a few polls on German voters' desires regarding the best party combination to govern. It was indeed distressing to see that for most voters as well as most SPD voters, a Grand Coalition or Union/FDP was preferred to anything with Green involvement - even tough, as I saw it, most successes of the Schröder government were tied to the Greens, and most failures to the SPD.
On the other hand, as you write, the Realo wing rule had some unfortunate effects. The Greens used to be taunted for being dreamy-eyed crusties, but now come the yuppies - the guy representing the Greens on TV debates I saw before the Schleswig-Holstein elections threw me off, he would have fitted perfectly into Westerwelle's Spaßpartei...
Anyway, I wish them well, and if they will have to be the opposition of a Grand Coalition, I hope the result will be double digits for them in the next state elections. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
The problem with the Greens is that they fail to inspire anybody that is not already voting for them. They are also very much a western party, except for Berlin they have a very weak showing in the east. Maybe they should work more on the local level (like the PDS in the east) to draw more people towards them.
