The Unionist

Dietmar Bartsch isn't used to asking himself such questions. For a long time, there was no room for doubt: He was a member of the Social Democrats and he voted the party line.

The 42-year-old miner has been an active unionist and a member of the Social Democrats (SPD) for 18 years. One thing led to another -- "the usual stuff," said Bartsch referring to how he first got involved in the party.

What used to be "usual" in the Ruhr Basin has increasingly turned into the exception. In the 1950s, some 500,000 people worked in coal mining; and party activism was simply part of the working class culture. Today, that number has shrunk to 40,000. And even fewer people are interested in getting politically involved.

Voter turnout in the region leaves much to be desired -- and the SPD feels the decline most of all. In the past, everything ran like a well-oiled machine. Today, the party has trouble mobilizing its once regular voters: the miners and factory workers.

No more hands-on work

Bartsch has witnessed first-hand the changes. Sitting in his office at the Auguste-Victoria mine in Marl since five o'clock in the morning, he reflects on the party's past and its chances for the future. The previous evening had been a late one. Bartsch was at an SPD meeting in his hometown of Recklinghausen. And, as is the case whenever "comrades" meet these days, all talk was focused on the upcoming early elections in September. Bartsch says he feels "a mixture of resignation and hope" in view of yet another election campaign, just two months after losing the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia.

"No one seriously expects a victory," he sighs. "But what else can we do?" He acknowledges that politicians don't know what is happening at the party basis -- and how should they? "Has any of them ever really gotten their hands dirty?" Nonetheless, the unionist and long-time SPD member concedes that reforms are necessary and will continue to be important for the future.

Lots of "basta," little substance

But Bartsch criticizes party heads for the approach they take to problem-solving. All too often they resort to a knee-jerk, "basta" (the Italian word for "that's enough") policy when caught in a tight spot. Reforms shouldn't be a form of "basta" politics from above, Bartsch says. The party leaders need to take people's fears seriously and spend time explaining policies to them.

The SPD is lacking the right people for this right now, Bartsch laments. Gone are the days of the great party figureheads like Willy Brandt, Herbert Wehner or Helmut Schmidt, "who had a Social Democrat heart and proudly wore it on their sleeve."

Still, Bartsch he will campaign for the SPD, which is still his party. "If you don't fight, you’ve already lost," he says. But his words fall flat, lacking a fiery spirit.