God knows they need a new Münte, but now that they're out in the cold I think they could use a Lafontaine-like rabble-rouser more than they could a Steinmeier. I don't think being a party operative is a disadvantage right now - however moves into the party leadership right now will need to be able to build a secure base so that they can present themselves as the head of a unified party (something e.g. Beck never got). I guess together Nahles and Wowi would be a dream team.

Gabriel - I dunno. I've heard his standard speech as Environment Minister, and he is (was, now) intelligent enough to understand the problem of climate change and make it the core of his standard pitch (although he's too politically committed to coal to acknowledge the solution). But he's not stirring.

Besides, like Steinmeier and Steinbrück, he's an old Schröderite, and the IMO the SPD needs someone new if it's going to credibly rebuild.

The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman