The Un-electable - How the CDU Suddenly Wants to Protect the Constitution

Once upon a time, there was a Bundestag that remembered its dignity. And because the republic stood on shaky ground, it resolved to elect constitutional judges - those quiet guardians of order who respond to the noise of the streets with paragraphs. But no sooner had the candidates been named than the unthinkable happened: the CDU remembered its principles. It was July 11, 2025, and suddenly Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf was no longer a professor of constitutional law but a threat to Western civilization. Her stance on mandatory vaccination? Disturbing. Her thoughts on abortion? Outrageous. Her closeness to the SPD? Unforgivable. And as if that weren’t enough, Stefan Weber emerged from the shadows of the Alps - the literary truffle pig of the copy-paste world - and threw in a software-generated report. While the plagiarism could not be confirmed, that was already beside the point for the CDU: suspicion existed, and suspicion was enough - especially if it proved useful.

Friedrich Merz, who not only holds the chancellorship but also the monopoly on wounded expressions, spoke of a “responsible postponement.” Jens Spahn, who now poses as a moral authority on matters of life protection, muttered something about “trust in the rule of law.” In truth, it was a small performance with a big effect: instead of the routine election of three constitutional judges, there was uproar, emergency party meetings, and a voting pause that did the German parliament proud - after all, in the Bundestag one is not only allowed to speak, but also to remain silent. The SPD and Greens raged. Manuela Schwesig, usually more reserved, thundered from the gallery that the Federal Constitutional Court should not be used for political chess. Britta Haßelmann of the Greens called the whole thing a “disaster for parliament,” and even from within the CSU came the unexpected voice of reason: Alexander Hoffmann stood protectively in front of the allegedly unacceptable candidate and called her “no left-wing radical activist.” What a day.

That the CDU has maneuvered itself into a position where it might now have to rely on votes from the AfD for its own candidate - a detail the CDU would likely file under “regrettable necessity.” Because those who present themselves as the last apostles of the constitution must not be too squeamish when it comes to saving the West. In the end, it was an election that wasn’t. A court that waits for its judges. And a political culture that - once again - is sorting through its masks. Brosius-Gersdorf remains, for the time being, a professor. The Bundestag remains, for the time being, paralyzed. And the CDU? It has shown that it knows how to fight. Not for the constitution, but against a woman it doesn’t understand. Sometimes, that’s apparently the same thing.