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Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - It was a bit like the entire election campaign that evening: Shortly before the end, Winfried Kretschmann was clearly ahead.

The green bar on the SWR screen showed the Prime Minister's speaking time of 26.45 minutes, while his opponent Susanne Eisenmann (CDU) only had 24.27 minutes.

A disadvantage for the challenger in this election campaign speech duel - even if it may be due to the fact that Eisenmann simply speaks much faster.

"I can live with that," said the CDU woman calmly.

But she's under pressure.

In the polls, too, two weeks before the election, she is behind the green head of government.

Kretschmann had a warm herbal tea in front of him in the Stuttgart Wagenhallen, Eisenmann a water, medium.

He speaks a lot with the moderator and not with his opponent, only pulls a puzzled grimace once when Eisenmann reproaches him that the Greens are accusing the CDU of clientelism.

The Minister of Education, on the other hand, nods a lot and smiles a lot.

Towards the end, things get rougher when it comes to transport policy, farmers and a supposed ban on single-family homes.

There is no real guideline, especially when dealing with the automotive industry, says Eisenmann.

“It is good to have a steadfast policy, but you shouldn't fall asleep,” she complains.

"I think there has to be more than just individual projects."

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But really sharp shooting is seldom done that evening.

The two are still coalition partners - and could stay that way after March 14th.

The duel is mainly about the pandemic.

Eisenmann insists on openings, Kretschmann applies the brakes.

The Prime Minister is dampening the hope of a more comprehensive easing of the lockdown shortly before the next federal-state conference on Wednesday - especially in schools.

One shouldn't risk rushing into a third wave with openings that are too fast.

They now have better masks, vaccination is progressing and more rapid tests are available.

However, it should not be opened to the extent that “we lose control of the pandemic again”.

On Monday evening, Kretschmann was skeptical that the secondary schools - as suggested by Eisenmann - could gradually reopen next Monday.

"I tend not to see that," said the Green politician.

Eisenmann, on the other hand, said that one should now dare to take another step with the schools after the primary schools had been cautiously opened.

She criticized the fact that although the opening of hardware stores was being discussed, the schools still wanted to wait.

"The proportionality is wrong."

Previously, Kretschmann had announced that the hardware stores in the southwest would open soon.

The Bavarian neighbors have now opened them.

"You can do that as the next step so that we don't get any tourism - that's always bad in the pandemic."

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Regarding the test strategy, the head of government said that the infrastructure for mass tests alone could not be set up overnight.

It is not so easy to test a million students in the country.

Eisenmann pointed out that the CDU had been pushing for an expansion of the test strategy for a long time.

Now the Green Minister of Health Manne Lucha must finally implement what has been decided.

The green head of government disagreed: The testing would have to be organized by the Ministry of Education, the school authorities and the students.

The former teacher Kretschmann was aggressive when it came to school, Eisenmann's specialist subject.

It is not enough to provide the students with laptops or tablets.

For far too long, the discussion had only been about technology.

"We urgently need to deal with it now, what does that mean in educational terms?"

The goal must be: "How do I achieve judgment?"

At Eisenmann's address he said: "This is the highest railway that something is presented."

Eisenmann, however, declared: "We have been working on it for five years."

She also said that the concept of “replace books with laptops” is not a pedagogy.

The duel is also about the country's sluggish vaccination campaign.

The structure and organization could be much better, said Eisenmann.

This is starting right now, the demand for the fabric from the manufacturer Astrazeneca has risen, replies Kretschmann.

He would also get himself vaccinated with it.

It is a highly effective vaccine that has been wrongly discussed.

He also wants to be vaccinated publicly, but only when it's his turn.

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Eisenmann uses this for a blow on Kretschmann's age.

Astrazeneca is currently only used in Germany to vaccinate people between the ages of 18 and 64 - there is a lack of data on the effect in older people.

Then Kretschmann would have to choose a different vaccine, she said, referring to the age of the 72-year-old.

And the 56-year-old allowed herself another tip: Due to her age, she would first watch the Prime Minister before she was vaccinated herself.

In the end, she took up this topic again when it came to a possible successor for Kretschmann.

In an interview a week ago, the head of government did not want to decide who could succeed him, but gave a hint: "The second most important office after the prime minister is that of the parliamentary group leader of a ruling party."

And that is Andreas Schwarz.

In the TV duel, Kretschmann now stated that this was not an indication that Schwarz would be his successor.

"Everyone misunderstood that."

Eisenmann then said: "I got it wrong too."

She was very surprised that there was already talk of succession, when five challenging years of government were coming up after the election.

The political scientist Andrea Römmele was disappointed with the duel.

"It was a duel of lost opportunities," said Römmele on SWR television.

Far too much was about the current corona policy.

Eisenmann had become more aggressive only late.

“That fizzled out a bit at the back.

She didn't even take home a points win. "

Kretschmann played his role as father of the country confidently, said the professor at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin.

Note on the side: There was a glitch when timing the speech proportions.

After half an hour, the transmitter faded in the parts of the speech: 08.44 minutes for Kretschmann, 12:31 minutes for Eisenmann.

Even then, SWR editor-in-chief Fritz Frey asked whether that could be true.

About 15 minutes later, the SWR corrected, Kretschmann was at about 15 minutes and Eisenmann at just under nine minutes.

To make up for that, the SWR then extended the program by another ten minutes.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210301-99-646845 / 4