The elephant round of “Krone” and Puls 24 brought a big surprise. NEOS top candidate Beate Meinl-Reisinger was the only woman who fought bravely and did almost as well as ÖVP leader Karl Nehammer. The fact that Herbert Kickl did not enter into the confrontation was to their advantage.
In a live poll during the elephant round, 15,000 viewers saw Karl Nehammer in first place with 34 percent, Meinl-Reisinger followed with 31 percent, SPÖ leader Andreas Babler came third with 26 percent, Werner Kogler (Greens) fourth with nine percent. “The survey is of course not representative, but Mr Kickl’s absence played a role and influenced the result,” says political advisor Thomas Hofer.
Meinl-Reisinger in particular is doing well
“Mrs. Meinl-Reisinger will have relatively little to gain from this on election day, because probably few people will switch from the FPÖ to her because of this performance.” But considering the size of the party, Meinl-Reisinger’s performance is very good. For Nehammer, however, it is important that he wins this confrontation as Chancellor.
51 of the FPÖ voters voted for Neos
Christoph Haselmayer, who conducted the survey, says: “The NEOS did well in the elephant round because Meinl-Reisinger positioned herself clearly and presented objective arguments. She has the highest popularity among her own voters. Because the FPÖ was not represented, this gave her an additional 51 percent. 35 percent of the FPÖ supporters voted for the ÖVP and Karl Nehammer. She also received the most votes from voters of other parties in this round compared to the other candidates.”
Meinl-Reisinger managed to create distinctive features in several areas. “The NEOS are the only ones who say: ‘Don’t worry, of course we need an austerity package’. Everyone else is afraid to say it. It was the same in the EU elections, where the Neos called for a ‘United States of Europe and a European army’. She can just tighten things up even further.” And the space that Kickl created has been used well, says Hofer.
Babler should have worked harder on the ÖVP
The FPÖ leader, on the other hand, will probably justify his absence by saying that he stayed away from what he calls the “unity party.” Most observers are surprised by the question Babler was allowed to ask Nehammer, namely about recipes against the death of farmers. “Babler could have worked much harder on the ÖVP and hit them, despite everything that the SPÖ saw as social cuts. In my opinion, he did not do enough,” says the political expert.
“Nehammer is currently riding the wave of ‘I moderate the crisis’. This is appropriate to a certain extent given the floods. No mistakes have been made in the ÖVP election campaign so far.” For Werner Kogler and the Greens, however, the cozy course is a tightrope walk. There are attacks, but not directly against Nehammer, but against the states or the Chamber of Commerce. The idea behind it is that you don’t want to make your own balance sheet look bad. “Now that the flooding has been going on for a few days, the Greens can become a bit tougher again, especially when it comes to climate issues. The ÖVP is vulnerable there.”
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
