So, funny story: The German state of Brandenburg elected a new parliament a couple days ago. The ruling center-left SPD barely managed to win, with 31% of the votes. The (supposedly*) far-right AfD got 30% of the votes, making them the second strongest party. The other established parties got dismantled. What's actually funny about this election, however, is that the Greens, who got completely destroyed this election cycle, from major player in the ruling coalition to zero, managed to get the voting age lowered to 16 just prior to the previous elections. Why? Because that was during the height of Fridays for Future - Greta and stuff. Their argument was that the young generation has to live with climate change, so the voting age should be lowered. In reality, Greens simply took for granted that young people would vote for them. And it worked out at the time, they got close to 30% of the votes from the 16 to 24 demographic, and solidified their position in the then ruling coalition. Four years later, kids realized that the Greens destroyed the economy, and saving the climate isn't really worth all that much if you can't get a fucking job - now they're voting AfD. The gamble worked once, then backfired spectacularly four years later.
*) I say "supposedly", because I'm old enough to remember a pre-Merkel CDU. Prior to Merkel, and even during Merkels first election cycle, the CDU was arguably further to the right than the AfD is now. I still vividly remember Merkel's first "town hall", where she argued against immigration and especially against gay marriage. Once elected however, she slowly shifted the entire party further and further to the left, until Germany no longer had a conservative mainstream party. The AfD just filled that void. The big surprise is that it's now mostly young people voting for them. Well, it's not really a surprise if you think about it, but still...
*) I say "supposedly", because I'm old enough to remember a pre-Merkel CDU. Prior to Merkel, and even during Merkels first election cycle, the CDU was arguably further to the right than the AfD is now. I still vividly remember Merkel's first "town hall", where she argued against immigration and especially against gay marriage. Once elected however, she slowly shifted the entire party further and further to the left, until Germany no longer had a conservative mainstream party. The AfD just filled that void. The big surprise is that it's now mostly young people voting for them. Well, it's not really a surprise if you think about it, but still...