Overview
- Fresh polling, including ZDF’s Politbarometer, places CDU and Greens level at 28 percent with voting set for March 8.
- An ARD Mittagsmagazin clip of Manuel Hagel incorrectly explaining the greenhouse effect and the recirculation of older footage have drawn new criticism.
- Senior voices inside the Baden-Württemberg CDU fault a tightly controlled campaign operation and report weak grassroots mobilization.
- Cem Özdemir outperforms Hagel in direct-choice preference surveys, as the Greens narrow what had been a larger CDU lead.
- Chancellor and CDU leader Friedrich Merz joins final campaign stops in Stockach and Ravensburg, with analysts warning the outcome could carry national repercussions.