Eighty years after the Nazi dictatorship, a party that refuses to draw a hard line against that past just doubled its vote share, and that should horrify anyone. Ulrich Siegmund played the friendly candidate while surrounding himself with extremists and staying silent as supporters harassed journalists, andwhich threw Hitler salutes. That makes him dangerous forto liberal democracy.

Germany is a warning. Years of social democracy, interventionism, regulatory overreach, punitive taxation and anti-nuclear policies have eroded competitiveness, weakened industry and damaged the primary sector. The SPD and CDU share responsibility. The AfD's rise reflects public discontent with visible political and economic decline. Social democracy has failed to deliver prosperity — and increasingly, it is failing to win elections.