德国总理兼德国中右翼基督教民主联盟领导人弗里德里希·梅茨于9月9日在柏林和梅克伦堡-西波美拉尼亚举行州选举一天后在柏林基民盟总部举行新闻发布会后离开21. Jens SchluETER/法新社通过Getty Images柏林-柏林市场充满了丰富的收成。养老金领取者尤特·伊斯托克（Ute Istock）拿起每周的购物，打趣说，苹果品种的选择与上个月市选举选票上的候选人一样广泛，并补充说这不一定是一件好事。
German Chancellor and leader of Germany's center-right Christian Democratic Union Friedrich Merz leaves after a press conference one day after state elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, at the CDU's headquarters in Berlin on Sept. 21. JENS SCHLUETER/AFP via Getty Images BERLIN — Berlin's markets brim with the rich pickings of harvest. Picking up her weekly shopping, pensioner Ute Istock quips that the choice of apple varieties is as broad as that of candidates on the ballot sheets in last month's city election — adding that this is not necessarily a good thing.
“投票变得棘手，”伊斯托克承认。“现在不再清楚一个政党最终将如何有效执政，因为政党太多，形成可行的多数党变得不可能。“在极右翼和极左翼最近在选举中获胜后，德国政治中间派正在争取相关性。
"Voting has become tricky," Istock admits. "It's no longer clear how a party will end up governing effectively because there are too many parties and forming viable majorities is becoming impossible." Germany's political center is fighting for relevance after recent electoral gains for the far-right and the far-left.
伊斯托克透露，她第一次投票给极左翼政党“连克”，因为她觉得中间派政党脱节了。
Istock reveals she voted for the far-left Die Linke party for the first time because she feels the centrist parties are out of touch.
“选民不再觉得自己是政治中间派的代表，”她说。“这就是为什么我们以如此对抗的方式投票。“这种对抗性的投票让伊斯托克和其他德国选民感到不安，因为日益严重的政治分裂、不稳定的联盟和严峻的经济与近一个世纪前导致法西斯主义崛起的过去相呼应。
"Voters no longer feel represented by the political center," she says. "This is why we're voting in such a confrontational way." This confrontational voting sits uncomfortably with Istock and other German voters because increasing political fragmentation, unstable coalitions and a dire economy echo a past that led to the rise of fascism almost a century ago.
它也与总理弗里德里希·梅茨（Friedrich Merz）感到不舒服，他的中右翼基督教民主党（CDU）在柏林选举中惨败，并在同一天举行的州选举中遭遇了有史以来最糟糕的结果。
It also sits uncomfortably with Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whose center-right Christian Democrats (CDU) were trounced in the Berlin elections and suffered their worst-ever result in a state election held the same day.
“对国家机构的信任正在下降，”梅茨在出口民意调查公布几分钟后表示。“左翼和右翼的激进政党都在利用这一点。“梅茨的保守派与中左翼社会民主党一起执政，组成了一个由两个政治立场截然不同的大帐篷政党组成的联盟。现在，他们互相依赖，获得越来越微弱的多数席位，共同执政使各政党显得不那么明显。
"Trust in state institutions is declining," Merz said minutes after exit polls were announced. "And radical parties on both the left and the right are exploiting this." Merz's conservatives govern together with the center-left Social Democrats in a coalition of what used to be two big-tent parties with significantly different political positions. They now rely on each other for increasingly slim majorities, and governing together is making the parties appear less distinguishable.
著名的社会民主党人马蒂亚斯·米尔施（Matthias Mirsch）最近在议会抱怨政治话语变得多么简化。
A prominent Social Democrat, Matthias Mirsch, recently complained in parliament how reductive political discourse has become.
他是在极右翼德国另类选择党（AfD）在萨克森-安哈尔特州选举中赢得压倒性胜利后发表上述讲话的。
He was speaking after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won a landslide victory in state elections in Saxony-Anhalt.
米尔施说：“在这个时代，治理真是太困难了，事情很快就归结为是或否、黑或白，中间立场不重要。“柏林的传播顾问马克西米利安·弗吕格将此归咎于辩论的缩小和传递信息的媒体上政治中心的缩小。
"It's damn difficult to govern in these times," Mirsch said, "where things quickly boil down to yes or no, black or white, and the middle ground doesn't count." Berlin-based communications adviser Maximilian Flügge blames this narrowing of debate and a shrinking political center on the medium conveying the messages.
“算法根本不是为政治中心设计的。算法经过训练是为了煽动愤怒，”他解释道。“政治中心依赖于细微差别和妥协--这两者都没有在社交媒体上疯传。“尽管梅茨的政党最近在选举中失败，但在人们猜测他可能会被取代的情况下，梅茨仍然目中无人。他坚称，他将继续推进税收和福利改革，他说，这是启动德国经济所必需的。
"Algorithms are simply not made for the political center. Algorithms are trained to promote outrage," he explains. "The political center relies on nuance and compromise — neither of which goes viral on social media." Despite his party's recent electoral defeats, Merz remains defiant amid speculation that he might be replaced. He insists he'll push on with the tax and welfare reforms he says are needed to jumpstart Germany's economy.
经过一番自我反省和战略思考，梅尔茨承认，仅仅引用统计数据是行不通的：“我们必须努力--包括我自己--在情感层面上接触人们，”他在最近的一次新闻发布会上对记者说。
After some soul — and strategy — searching, Merz has admitted that citing statistics alone won't sell it: "We must try — I myself included — to reach people on an emotional level," he told journalists in a recent press conference.
弗吕格说，梅尔茨的中间派政府在传达改革议程方面过于消极--这与极右翼的德国新选择党形成鲜明对比，后者向选民承诺“一切皆有可能！
Flügge says Merz's centrist government is too negative in messaging about its reform agenda — in stark contrast to the far-right AfD, which promises voters that " everything is possible!
但这一愿景的一部分包括所谓的“再移民”--一项主张大规模驱逐出境的政策，包括具有德国国籍的移民。
But part of that vision includes so-called "remigration" — a policy that advocates deporting people on a massive scale, including immigrants with German citizenship.
尽管梅茨可能很难解释自己政党的愿景，但他在描述极右翼的政策时毫不犹豫。
And while Merz may struggle to explain his own party's vision, he doesn't hold back when describing the far-right's policies.
梅茨最近在联邦议院对立法者说：“‘重新移民’这个词只不过是基于出身和肤色的种族清洗的代名词。”
"The word 'remigration' is nothing more than a synonym for ethnic cleansing based on origin and skin color," Merz recently told lawmakers in the Bundestag.
他的说法引起了掌声。但这也引发了规模庞大的德国选择党反对派的嘲笑。
His assertion prompted applause. But it also prompted jeers from the sizable AfD opposition.
他们的领导人爱丽丝·韦德尔现在声称德国选择党是德国新的大型帐篷党德国
Their leader, Alice Weidel, now claims that it is the AfD that is Germany's new big tent party Germany