The German election, then, as an autopsy of a non-event. It was Election-Day Big Man is back in office. Slim Man has been chosen as leader of the opposition. The Liberals crawl back into Big Man's shadow. Everything is reordered.
Every party is a winner, and a loser.
The pollsters resume their regular jobs, probing the TV audience for weekly updates on their cynicism, and waiting for the next big electoral campaign. The voters are still grumbling about the TV program and its non-policy. But still the German election was a great success. They now refuse to take their place in the shadow of the Big Man. Demanding instead their spot in the political sun, they insist on transforming the election into an event after all.