Federal President Steinmeier: The bravest of the cautious

One of the problems Germans face is that they do not know whether they should want politicians who are like themselves or those who are just not.

The best would be good geniuses who only dare to win, not defeat, who in all modesty make great speeches and admit mistakes, but don't make any.

It's actually like investing: Fifteen percent interest on the savings account, that would be nice.

Because there are no such politicians, Germans are mostly satisfied with those who give them the impression that they can be relied on.

Every now and then they notice that it could be more dazzling, tickling, cooler.

For example, this week some asked whether a more exciting Federal President could not be imagined than Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

If its name were a New Year's Eve, it would be times of compromise: Frank and Walter, Stein and Meier, everything comes together.

And in fact, the Federal President has managed to get the four largest parties to support his candidacy.

Of course, the reason for this is not unlimited admiration, which nobody, not even Markus Söder, arouses anyway.

Steinmeier committed himself early

Power political reasons play a role, such as the fact that the Greens thought it was trendy not to create a bad mood in the coalition right away by putting up their own candidate or supporting one of the Union. The Union then did not name any, although its chairman-designate Friedrich Merz had taken it for granted in December.

Steinmeier had proven himself the bravest of the cautious by announcing that he would run again a few months before the general election. That was a risk, because whether he would find enough supporters depended on the outcome of the election. A black-green alliance would have insisted on its own candidate. Steinmeier was not frightened by the prospect of failure in front of everyone. Or maybe it frightened him, and he risked it anyway. That was the opposite of the endless maneuvering that many citizens dislike about politicians. In retrospect, the fact that Steinmeier's decision seems quite natural is not because it was it, but because it became it.

But there is no victory without the vanquished.

These are those who find Steinmeier too inconspicuous, such as reporters for the "Bild" newspaper, who consider everything that does not fit in three-word sentences to be small print, or those who are tormented by the spirit of the times, who are more so-called characters in politics wish.

Apart from the fact that the character is not only about having one at all, but also which one, emphasis is often confused with certainty in the judgment.

"You can only love this country with a broken heart"

Steinmeier has the latter, and anyone who takes the effort to read more than the tweets that call his speeches boring, for example the speeches themselves, may not be entertained brilliantly, but they are thought-provoking. Steinmeier said on Liberation Day in 2020: “You can only love this country with a broken heart.” There is no such thing as German patriotism without breaks. These sentences do not tip in any direction, neither to patriotism nor to rupture. You are standing straight.

It fits in with the fact that Steinmeier repeatedly expresses his patriotism, for example in November when he complained about the derogatory relationship of some Germans to the Bundeswehr. A few years ago, when the Gender Equality Officer at the Ministry of Family Affairs suggested that the text of the national anthem be formulated in a gender-neutral way (“home country” instead of “fatherland”), he was clearly against it. No less clearly, however, the Federal President calls on his co-workers to take equality seriously and to do their part.

Steinmeier fights for a political culture in which forgiveness is not confused with weakness, and willingness to compromise is not confused with arbitrariness.

To some this fight seems hopeless.

But if it were easy to win, it would already be over.

Many battles have taken place on the net, and there you win if you are the funniest, the most aggressive, the angry and the fastest.

That already bothered normal citizens who long doom-scrolling for the times when there were no smartphones, and especially the politicians who have to advertise their work on this battlefield.

Steinmeier approaches the matter calmly and confidently, qualities that many are currently looking for.

His strength is not to want to stand out from the crowd, but to work into it.