Patrick Dahlemann stands in the parking lot of a discount store in Torgelow and campaigns for the SPD. His party is in decline, he wants to rise to the top. It’s not his choice, but it is his party. And it is his life, from early in the morning until late at night, often seven days a week. Everyone and anyone is approached in the parking lot. Giving up is not an option. “Standing until the end is a very important image, even for those who drive past. Fight to the end!” Dahlemann actually made it a long time ago, becoming State Secretary for Western Pomerania at the age of 28, reporting directly to the Minister President with a spacious office in the State Chancellery, top salary, company car, driver, staff and official residence in Anklam. But that is the outside view.

The pressure is enormous. The SPD is not the only party on the brink. Trust in politics is crumbling, as Dahlemann perceives it: “We are doing better than ever, the economy is booming, tax revenues are gushing and at the same time we have such a huge acceptance problem.” Politics is exhausting, time-consuming, energy-sapping.

Election campaign is always.