German Christian Democrats Are Paralyzed by a Far-Right Surge

Next month, three state elections will test whether Germany’s postwar consensus against governing with the far right will survive. On September 6, roughly two million voters in Saxony-Anhalt go to the polls; two weeks later, on September 20, they’ll be followed by voters in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the capital, Berlin. In these first two contests, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) is leading polls; in Berlin it is running second. In Saxony-Anhalt, it is far ahead, polling around 40 to…