In other words: the centrists think Koch failed because he didn't try to be a centrist in the rightward direction. In fact, a number of CDU/CSU regional leaders are echoing this, in the form of lesson for their own election campaigns.
I guess that's something to celebrate: the Overton Window shifted for the other side, and significantly so, and xenophobic campaigns may be out even for Bavaria! However, I think it is more honest to point out that the centrist analysis is wrong: would it not be, Koch would never have won two elections before.
Claus Christian Malzahn, a resident neocon with SPIEGEL, is also finished with Koch. He calls his campaign xenophobic, even if he 'submits' that there is such a problem as immigrant youth crime, where he locates a key Koch error in pretending that it mainly hits Germans rather than fellow foreigners. (Possible translation: the Islamofascists enforce agreement with violence on the streets?...)
But what's really interesting in the Malzahn piece is that he is almost begging the FDP to re-consider its rejection of a Traffic Lights Coalition. Why?
the Overton Window shifted for the other side, and significantly so,
That's the encouragement coming out of Hesse..! When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind
Hahahahahah!!!! *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
