Blunting the Far Right, Merkel Gains as German Election Nears<br />Oskar Niedermayer said that Ever since Ms. Merkel has shifted her policies and allowed fewer refugees into Germany,<br />that issue is no longer helping the Alternative for Germany,<br />1, 2017<br />ANNABERG-BUCHHOLZ, Germany — Taking the stage, Chancellor Angela Merkel thanked the thousands of Germans who had turned out at a recent campaign rally, and then leveled her gaze at a small<br />but noisy knot of right-wing protesters yelling and blowing whistles at the back of the square.<br />In the tumultuous aftermath of the refugee crisis, protest was what many Germans wanted,<br />and last year the Alternative for Germany made record gains in five state elections.<br />While the Alternative for Germany appears poised to enter Parliament for the first time — a potentially historic<br />breakthrough for the far right — the movement has found itself struggling to reach double-digits in the polls.<br />"Some want to listen, but others can only shout," the chancellor scolded, singling<br />out the protesters from the far-right Alternative for Germany party.<br />"Many people do vote for the Alternative for Germany, not because they agree with their positions,<br />but out of protest against the other parties," noted Hendrik Träger, a political scientist with the University of Leipzig.
