It’s easy to lay the blame for the bad election results and wavering faith on Kramp-Karrenbauer’s blunders, but such a view ignores both the structural dangers of her position and the more general instability of centrist parties around the world. Indeed, it ignores even the immediate cause of Merkel’s decision to renounce her position as party Chairwoman– “bitterly disappointing” election returns in West German Hessen. Kramp-Karrenbauer has indeed made enough unforced errors that discussions of her aptitude for Germany’s highest office seem warranted, but whether or not such errors will be relevant is a separate question: the forces that led to the Green Party’s spectacular recent election results were aligned well before AKK took power.