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There they sit like at a regular table, the three men, at a slightly larger corona protective distance, only with water, no back room, but in public, in front of cameras.

On the wall is the inscription "CDU Chairmanship: The Round of Candidates".

A moderator comes in, Tanja Samrotzki.

Then Friedrich Merz, Norbert Röttgen and Armin Laschet talk about politics for 90 minutes.

It's relaxed, there is a laugh when Merz says that he has four grandchildren and that the fifth will soon be coming, so the other two can't keep up.

In response to the moderator's breezy question as to how Röttgen would like to “wake up” Germany when it comes to technology and innovation, he charmingly steps in and says: “Of course, kissing is always a very pleasant way to wake up and become mobile.

But that's not enough in this area. ”It can be that easy in tough competition.

Only once does it get a little more confrontational later on.

The thought comes briefly: Let the three do it together, then there is something for everyone, the dashing, confrontational and the researcher, the juvenile and the benevolent, everything embracing.

They have known each other for decades now, have been on two terms and can still sit down at a table.

But in the end there can only be one CDU party leader, one candidate for chancellor, and perhaps after this meeting the members and delegates can at least come to terms with the knowledge that each of the three carries something of the other.

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Quite apart from the appearance, the character, the image, what is the content of the former Union parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz, 65 years old, from the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, Norbert Röttgen, 55 years old, and from North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Armin Laschet, 59 years old?

It's not that easy to answer, even after this first round of candidates.

So a little experiment: What if the candidates couldn't be seen and their voices couldn't be heard, that would make you wonder.

A selection based solely on content criteria, based on the statements, would hardly be possible, as the following three examples from the conversation show.

First: "When it comes to internal security, a clear edge and no compromises with a coalition partner at the expense of the security of our citizens".

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Secondly:

"The ecological renewal of the social market economy is right at the top of the agenda."

Third: "We need a digital structure for Germany."

Is it really clear who said what?

The first sentence comes from Laschet, who might have been more likely to have been given to Merz.

The second comes from Merz, who would have been intended for Röttgen, and the third came from Röttgen, who would also go with the other two.

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That is why the introduction round is important right from the start.

Also the first question from a CDU member, which stamp they want to put on the CDU, because this is where the different personalities come into their own, and what is particularly important to them.

Röttgen says he has “experience in victory and defeat”, he is driven by “what is at stake”, he speaks of upheavals.

Röttgen speaks quickly and urgently.

Merz receives the stamp of "New beginnings and renewal" from the moderator and is happy to accept it.

He says Germany is facing an exciting decade, the CDU facing a deep turning point, he emphasizes ecological renewal.

You have to endure different opinions “and maybe return to the conflict in the political center.

I've missed her there for a few years and I don't want us to leave her to the margins. "

Laschet actually imagines himself as with an application, name, age, profession.

Since taking office in 2017, he has been doing “concrete policies for the citizens” every day, he is a team player, which is why he is competing for party chairmanship together with Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn.

Laschet wants to "reconcile town and country", bring together different positions, "collect" trends.

The three of them have a lot in common in terms of content, and it is often the only decisive factor who is first to fill a position.

Like Röttgen, Merz and Laschet want more women to get involved in the party and in leadership positions.

For Merz, a fixed quota is only the "second best solution", but he does not oppose it.

Laschet says, "Lower taxes, you can't seriously promise that at the moment." That would not be an honest or a real policy.

Merz expressly agrees, Röttgen does not object.

When asked which position they would not give up in coalition negotiations with the Greens, Röttgen warns: “A coalition election campaign is the worst thing we can do”.

Laschet says he shares Röttgen's point of view.

Then he becomes a little more concrete and sounds like a hardliner when he emphasizes that there can be no compromises in terms of internal security, that a zero tolerance policy applies and that the CDU will not do anything that endangers the substance of the industrialized Germany .

Merz, like Röttgen, says that the CDU must have its own environmental profile.

It is about market-based instruments, about "ideas instead of permanent bans".

Röttgen and Merz speak out vehemently in favor of digitization, in Laschet's view probably too vehemently, because he emphasizes that people should not be persuaded to believe that everything will be digital in ten years.

“There will also be many jobs that cannot be digital.

Service professions, elderly and care professions, these will increase, and it is precisely these jobs where human closeness is important that cannot be digitized, ”says the Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia.

When it comes to the topic of digitization, something controversial is blowing when Merz and Röttgen complain that municipalities and states are not calling up the federal funds provided quickly enough.

Merz calls for more organizational responsibility from the federal states because the schools are overwhelmed.

Laschet contradicts and complains that the rules for dealing with such federal funds for digitization have to be changed, that a federalism reform is needed.

Merz agrees, "I very much agree", and so does Röttgen.

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The three also share a helplessness on the last topic.

A CDU member from Gummersbach asks how they would like to narrow the gap between rich and poor.

Laschet does not name a solution, but describes the risks of the pandemic, that there are people who would come out of the crisis well and even strengthened, but others would have to fear for their professional existence.

Large companies like Amazon would benefit from the crisis, they would finally have to get them to pay more taxes.

Röttgen sees it similarly.

He complains that the systemic professions of the pandemic, the nursing staff, the nurse, the cashier, are all typical women's professions that are poorly paid.

There needs to be a greater “moral and financial appreciation” for these professions.

And then comes Merz.

“However, one also has to say: If we hadn't had immigration to the social security systems in 2015/2016, we would have a million fewer Harz IV recipients.

That is part of the full picture of the debate.

Unfortunately, it is often enough suppressed, ”he says and leaves it where it is.

So that is his central statement when it comes to the question of rich and poor.

That would require some discussion, but Laschet and Röttgen do not reply.

They say goodbye.

“This evening was an evening that showed how well we can discuss future issues in the CDU,” says Laschet.

Candidate Röttgen praises a “respectful competition” and the daily discussions with the party base, and Merz is pleased: “Something is breaking out here.

A new culture of discussion is breaking out.

And the CDU is thinking about a time after Angela Merkel. ”This could also be discussed for a long time, but the first round of candidates is over.

The second round is scheduled for January 8th.

A week before the CDU's first digital party congress, where the party leader is elected.