Olaf Scholz cannot be overlooked at the Wiesbaden Jusos election campaign stand at the weekend.

The portrait of the SPD's candidate for Chancellor, who, according to surveys, is currently far ahead of his competitors in favor of voters, is emblazoned on the election poster next to the picture of Wiesbaden's SPD direct candidate Nadine Ruf.

Scholz looks statesmanlike from flyers and smiles mischievously on the front page of the campaign newspaper.

That should work confidently.

Human too.

But above all professionally.

Lorenz Hemicker

Editor in politics

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“Olaf”, as he calls him, is of very little help to Juso Aaron Baur at this moment, despite his popularity. A middle-aged woman, a fine blouse, gold jewelry around her neck, brought Baur into a discussion. She looks in vain for an apartment for her son, a journalist, in the Rhine-Main area. She quickly switched to Muslims with many children and finally came to speak of refugees who were threatened to come to Germany en masse from Afghanistan. Baur tries to respond to them. “Refugees have to be redistributed in Europe.” The visitor replies: “You don't believe that yourself.” Baur: “That has to happen.” The woman moves on. Baur can't get rid of the flyer with “Olaf” this time. Baur adjusts his flat cap. The woman was not "stupid on the right".But the migration just pushes her on. And finding an apartment in the Rhine-Main area is “really difficult”.

Baur knows the problem from his own experience. He now has a job at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, but 27-year-old Juso can tell a lot about the needs of the students, especially since he comes from a working-class family, his father a factory worker, his mother a dental assistant. Filling out the application for grants under the Federal Training Assistance Act (Bafög) was "a real struggle" for him. “And in the end it came to zero.” That has to change, Baur believes. This is what the Jusos are calling for, and it is now in the SPD's election manifesto. And that's what Scholz stands for, says Baur. What the SPD candidate for chancellor stands for is by no means interested this Saturday when approaching the Jusos stand. Some people dismiss it (“I'll choose him anyway”). Others only care about one thing ("Are you for cannabis?").In any case, gummy bears do better than the Scholz flyers this lunchtime. A man grabs a whole pack (“For my dogs”). The Jusos also have to constantly fetch new sunglasses, pens and disinfectants from the red van with the SPD logo behind them.

There are no pictures of Esken, Kühnert and Walter-Borjans

Under their former chairman Kevin Kühnert, the Jusos helped prevent Olaf Scholz from becoming party chairman and instead supported the duo Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans.

In doing so, they moved the party much further to the left than their candidate for chancellor would like.

But that morning obviously doesn't matter to the visitors to the Juso stand.

However, you are not specifically advised of this.

There are no pictures of the two party chairmen at the Jusos stand, any more than of Kevin Kühnert, who has meanwhile risen to the position of deputy party chairman.

The Wiesbaden Juso chairwoman Silvana Sand also rules out that there will be major disputes between an SPD Chancellor Scholz and his left-wing party leadership. The 23-year-old student is one of the better-known faces of the SPD youngsters in the Hessian state capital. In the local elections in the spring, the budding lawyer convinced so many voters that she is now a member of Wiesbaden's city council. Sand relies on Scholz and the Greens as junior partners. Annalena Baerbock lacks the experience for the Chancellery, she tells an older man who reveals himself to be a big fan of Sand, "but as a minister in a Scholz cabinet, I could very well imagine her". That the Jusos helped prevent Scholz from being a candidate for chancellor and now support him so resolutely,Sand sees no contradiction in the fact that even the campaigners of the Junge Union at the stand next door show them their respect. She found Scholz “good” as a candidate for chancellor, but it was “important to have other party leaders”.

In addition, she refers to the election manifesto of the SPD. In this, everyone would have agreed on goals. This then has to be implemented. Of course, Sand also knows that election programs are not coalition agreements. She regards the left with skepticism. She is offended by her friendliness to China and Russia. While she would obviously be in favor of a red-green government, others on her team can also envision a traffic light with the Liberals. Only a new edition of the grand coalition is rejected by everyone here, even if the contacts with the JUers are so close that they sometimes have a beer together in the evening.

But what would happen if a Chancellor Scholz decided in a coalition for a step that the Jusos resolutely reject? What if, for example, in the face of the disaster in Afghanistan, Scholz campaigned for the purchase of combat drones? Sand is silent for a long time and wipes a strand from her face. “Difficult subject,” she then says. Part of her family comes from Afghanistan, her aunt still lives in Kabul today. In the past few weeks she has tried not to look at any pictures from there. If an SPD-led government would actually think about acquiring combat drones, she says, the Jusos would have to contribute as a “critical force”. There then has to be “more pressure”. Obviously, unity has reached a limit at this point. Should Scholz move into the Chancellery,that shouldn't remain the only point of contention.