Stuttering, sweating, smoking and intimidating – some TV duels have made it into the history book

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Nixon had gone into the election campaign as the favorite. He was Vice President under Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was popular across party lines. But then came the TV duel and the great moment of the Catholic charismatic: Kennedy looked young, happy and tough, Nixon stuttered and sweated – and in the end lost the election. It’s good that the mafia in Illinois should have helped a little … But this is about TV duels.

There were no direct TV duels in Germany until 2002. Helmut Kohl was against it. In the 70s there were legendary rounds in which the man from Palatinate, with Franz Josef Strauss at his side, exchanged insults with Helmut Schmidt and Willy Brandt. And there was still smoking. Politics has seldom been more entertaining. What did that look like? Look for yourself.

For showman Gerhard “Gerd” Schröder there was no question of agreeing to a TV duel. Like Kennedy, he had campaigned behind. In March it still looked like a sure thing for the CDU and FDP. In the TV duel, Schröder Stoiber then played brutally. The challenger was extremely successful as Bavarian Prime Minister and he was what they call a Gschaftlhuber at home. An over-ambitious person who likes to brag about his activity and his success.

It was Stoiber’s strategy in the TV duel to torment Schröder with his Bavarian track record. When Stoiber rattled off his good report in an unsympathetic manner, Schröder dismissed him: “This is not about Bavaria, this is about Germany.” Zack. Hit. Sunk. The nerd had lost, the class clown stayed in office for another three years.

You don’t have to be in a TV duel to win it. Malu Dreyer achieved this success in 2016. It was a fluke. Dreyer had made a media-effective decision not to appear in public with AfD representatives. At a press conference the question arose whether this also applies to the elephant round. So taken by surprise, the party was determined to say yes. This also applies to the elephant round.

The SWR offers two duels before the election: In one, the top candidates of the two promising parties meet, in the other, the top candidates of all parties who have a chance of entering the state parliament. This is the elephant round. In 2016, in addition to the CDU and SPD, there were also the FDP, Greens, AfD and Left. Dreyer renounced this round and sent party leader Roger Lewentz.

That didn’t give a good picture. None of the others either. Too many participants, too much talk in between and too little order from the SWR. The whole thing looked hectic like a bazaar. And while Julia Klöckner faced this hustle and bustle, Dreyer stayed away from him. Perhaps that was not democratically sincere. But successful. Because the Prime Minister was able to maintain her image, to float above things.

The tree millionaire and party lion Donald Trump had said early on in interviews that he might want to become president. Shows like The Simpsons parodied it – but nobody really took it seriously for two decades. Despite all of his obvious weaknesses, Trump had something that plays an important role in the media age. Show qualities. With The Apprentice he had his own format, which was so successful that attempts were made to cover it with Reiner Calmund in Trump’s role in Germany. Trump also scored points in formats such as the Roast from Comedy Central.

The TV duel was scary. While Clinton lectured in the middle of the stage, Trump walked around her with his arms crossed. It looked like a tiger sneaking around its prey. Like an angry teacher questioning the incompetent student. And above all extremely unsympathetic. But: It also testified to strength against insecurity. An effect that plays a far greater role in voting decisions in the USA than in Germany.

You don’t have to be in a TV duel to win it. Likewise, both can leave the field as losers. In 2017 Martin Schulz’s election campaign started furiously. So furious that the Willy-Brandt-Haus thought it was in awe of victory and had a “Schulz train” created. A computer game in which the hero from Würselen simply ran over all opponents. Subtle.

Merkel concentrated on the SPD as the main opponent in the election campaign. Successful. The Schulz train crashed into the railroad station barrier in three state elections. And Schulz couldn’t score in the TV duel either. He couldn’t attack the coalition partner directly, so the former President of the European Parliament tried to score points with his cosmopolitanism. This culminated in the embarrassment that both debaters competed over who had telephoned the French hopefuls Emmanuel Macron more often.

A draw in the TV duel is enough for the title holder to advance. After the TV duel, it was clear that Schulz would not replace Merkel. So the Chancellor was successful.

Too successful. Since the chancellor question was already decided, the polarization fell away. The voters considered whether they should not choose another party to make a substantive statement. The polls for the SPD and Union fell and in the end it was not even enough for both parties together for 60 percent.

TV duels are not always easy for journalists. If you decide on a winner, you make yourself vulnerable. Also internally. The colleagues always show solidarity and would never behave like cowardly snipers. But sometimes But is capitalized. Journalists like to avoid anger. That’s why most TV duels end in a draw. In conclusion.

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