At least he talks: Why Friedrich Merz deserves grace

Friedrich Merz has two daughters and a son. All three are grown up, employed and live their life on independence from their Federal Chancellor. There is no question that it shapes a person to have children. And you can imagine that a politician also has an impact on politics, which does not mean that childless politicians make worse politics for children. Friedrich Merz could have shown it, for example, when he recently reported on Caren Miosga how difficult it was to talk about the suffering of children. Everything would have been good.

Instead, the Chancellor made a strange division. “I’ve been the first Chancellor since 1998 who has my own children,” said Merz. And added: “This also shapes my political work.” The Chancellor not only wanted to show a difference to his predecessors Olaf Scholz and Angela Merkel, but obviously also to Gerhard Schröder, who adopted a daughter in the course of his chancellorship with his wife Doris Schröder head. For Merz, such children are not considered “own” children, let alone children from previous marriages of the partners, as they existed with Schröder and Merkel. So are only self -made children “own” children? But above all: do your own children actually shape the policy of a politician differently than in the same children, as the Chancellor suggests? In other words: do I have to get upset about Friedrich Merz again?

I don’t know how they are doing, but when I look at interviews with Friedrich Merz, I alone feel a certain relief because this Chancellor usually answers questions in straight German sentences – not always to my political satisfaction, but yet in the recognizable effort to explain. This distinguishes him from his predecessor Olaf Scholz, who all too often did not use interviews to tell something, but rather to keep it silent, liked it in short answers, spoke in puzzles and enjoyed his knowledge of rule.

From the point of view of a journalist, Merz also has a remarkably open concept from communication about conversations behind closed doors, especially if information is already leaked. The Chancellor then explains how he protected his Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil, SPD, against criticism from the Union’s ranks in a parliamentary group meeting. Or he reports that it rumbled properly in a phone call with Benjamin Netanyahu. Discretion in politics is a high asset. Nevertheless, Merz finds a respectable measure not to talk about every answer with the popular and simple justification, he does not report on confidential conversations.

Merz makes himself attackable. Anyone who talks more exposes a greater risk of inaccurate or saying something wrong. I found the word of their own children and their meaning for politics wrong.

Nevertheless, I personally agreed a kind of one -sided deal with Merz for myself. If he continues to talk about his policy in the previous open way, I am ready to no longer make myself very powerful about every problematic word of the Chancellor, but to leave it at a friendly blame.

It is probably good for both of us.