Together with their junior partners in the governing grand coalition, the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the CDU can currently only expect between 54 and 58 percent support - leaving little margin for error at a time when voters throughout the West are increasingly turning to populist, anti-establishment options. It's no secret where the majority of the CDU's (and all the other major parties') lost voters have gone.
Savukārt pašreizējā "lielā koalīcija", kuru līdz ar CDU un tās Bavārijas meitaspartiju - Kristīgi sociālo savienību (CSU) - veido sociāldemokrāti (SPD) kopā var cerēt uz 54 līdz 58% balsu, kas atstāj visai ierobežotas manevra iespējas, ņemot vērā visā Eiropā strauji pieaugošo populistisko un eiroskeptisko partiju popularitāti.