FOCUS online: Mr. Kretschmann is a very popular, successful Prime Minister. You might not underline successful, but popular. What will you do differently, Mr. Hagel?

Manuel Hagel: We won’t change everything, but we will make the really important things more ambitious. We are fighting for every job in our country! For us, economic growth is becoming a reason of state.

Reason of state sounds dramatic. Isn’t that too big a word that promises too much to people?

Hail: Not at all. We make politics for the people who hit the alarm clock at six in the morning, spend the whole day worrying, come home in the evening and then take care of their families or volunteer work. And that’s why we’re now, first of all, implementing a job-saving policy. That is the goal.

Over the last ten or fifteen years we have developed a great deal of passion about the question of how we distribute wealth and have somewhat forgotten how to answer the question of where wealth actually comes from. It’s now a matter of first generating and then distributing. We have to tackle the home-made problems: the toxic mix of energy costs, tax costs and bureaucratic costs.

What specifically do you want to do for the employees who hit the alarm clock in the morning?

Hail: We are fighting to ensure that people who want to work can simply be allowed to work. This means that overtime, for example, should be completely tax- and social security-free. We also want the income tax reform, which is agreed in the coalition agreement (of the federal government, editor’s note), to be brought forward so that net wages rise. This is how we can work our way out of the recession. Hard work must be worthwhile and noticeable in your wallet.

During the election campaign you often talk about saving jobs. How exactly do you want to do this?

Hail: If we win the election on Sunday, our first step will be to set up a job rescue task force in the State Chancellery. We all have to pull together: employers, unions and the state government. In order for this task force to fly, it would be located directly in my State Chancellery. It’s about every single workplace. To this end, we will also bring new investments to Baden-Württemberg.

What exactly could such a task force bring about at the state level?

hail: Almost all laws in the areas of economics, planning and construction are implemented by the state. That’s why we in administration need the red carpet for the economy. We can no longer think in terms of administrative procedures and forms, but rather in terms of quick results. It’s now about speed and no longer about green romanticism of details that regulates everything down to the smallest detail.

The journey is the destination – that’s a nice motto for a hike in the Black Forest, but not for the administration of one of the strongest technology regions in Europe. We no longer want to write a 100-page legal report for every Beetle when it comes to large industrial settlements and infrastructure projects.

That’s why we as legislators are taking this into our own hands and are bundling these projects together by law in our new unleashing packages. With his legal planning, Erwin Teufel has launched important projects for the country, such as the Stuttgart trade fair. We’ll build on that. You can’t save jobs with green – but only with the CDU.

What can a single federal state do here?

Hail: Lots. In addition to the entire economic administration and legal planning, we can also improve the framework conditions ourselves. We will make access to the craft easier by first doubling the master craftsman bonus and finally – as with studies – no longer charging fees at all.

And we will stipulate that every application from Building application must be processed to obtain a business license within three months. If this fails, it is automatically considered approved. These approval fictions will lead to significantly more speed.

Faster approvals – also in environmental law: The Greens will thank you for that.

Hail: Yes, I suspect that they will fight tooth and nail – as they did with the migration situation. But the voters now have this in their own hands. If you want the fight for jobs to be fought with full energy, you have to vote for the CDU with both votes.

Scientists recently compared the election programs of the parties in Baden-Württemberg. And here the Greens have a very, very high level of agreement with the Left Party. A green economic prevention policy does not suit the middle-class state of Baden-Württemberg.

Okay, that’s it for your advertising unit. Now back to the Greens. Cem Özdemir often appears very civil. Some of the CDU’s concepts were already adopted by him. Maybe you can give us an example of where this strategy reaches its limits.

Hail: You are absolutely right: Mr. Özdemir is rhetorically sailing after the CDU in his election campaign, while his crew below deck rows in the other direction. Three examples: Mr. Özdemir supported our position on an election platform: no state toll for trucks.

The green transport minister promptly objected that they still wanted this state toll. Secondly, Mr. Özdemir called for more video surveillance. When we wanted to make this fully possible for our municipalities, only a minimal compromise was possible with the green group.

And then the Green top candidate on the podium of the state farmers’ association joined our demand to include wolves, beavers and rooks in the state hunting law. The green environment ministry in Baden-Württemberg has also been fighting against this for years. This Janus-faced attitude leaves you perplexed. If the label and contents don’t match, this is what happens.

And what about the ongoing controversial issue of migration?

Hail: It is one thing to lament the consequences of illegal migration in newspaper articles or to demand better management of migration during the election campaign. The other thing is to do something concrete about illegal migration. The Green top candidate recently sharply criticized Alexander Dobrindt (the CSU Federal Interior Minister, editor’s note) for extending border controls. That just doesn’t add up.

You can’t make big speeches and then get bogged down when it becomes concrete. With the border controls, we managed to arrest several hundred smugglers and put a stop to these human traffickers.

At the same time, the Green Party is suing the Federal Constitutional Court against the expulsion of safe countries of origin. The Berlin Greens demand that climate refugees be accepted into Germany, with the UN estimating that over 80 million people fall into this category. In short: Anyone who votes for the Greens to control migration or save the automobile industry is turning the goat into a gardener.

Are you still taking Özdemir’s suggestions seriously? And at the end of the day, he lacks the leverage within his own party to implement something?

Hail: It’s true: the closer Election Day gets, the more astonishing the statements become. The fight against cars is actually the founding myth of the Greens. It is no coincidence that the Green top candidate celebrated himself for personally writing the advance of the combustion engine ban into the traffic light coalition agreement.

Now that everyone has seen what has been done, he is now advocating for it in the election campaign flexible combustion engine off. In doing so, he is sailing behind our CDU position. Voters don’t believe that the Greens suddenly want to be a car party during the election campaign.

You have repeatedly described the AfD as your main opponent. How do you plan to keep voters from continuing to vote for the party?

Hail: People need to know: Anyone who votes for the AfD in protest will end up with a green prime minister. According to our analyses, around twenty percent can be recovered from the AfD. That would be at least one in five AfD voters. I have always advocated building a bridge back for these voters. Furthermore, we are running to beat the AfD. She has nothing in common with us Christian Democrats.

And how do you want to do that?

Hail: By taking people seriously. If you immediately push every worry to the side and push it into some corner, you shouldn’t be surprised if it stays there. But if we bring the debates back to the political center, fight for the best path, exchange arguments about the pros and cons, then we will also beat the AfD with democratic means. We have to make small the problems that made the AfD big: illegal migration and the fear of job losses in industry.

Hail: The AfD is like a thermometer for our society. If you have a fever, you have to eliminate the causes. There is no point in banning the thermometer. Only we Christian Democrats have the strength to protect our country from the AfD. We are the bulwark of freedom. That’s why every middle-class voter should vote for the CDU with both votes on March 8th.