Now it is clear: The SPD will go into the next federal election campaign with Germany's most unpopular top politician. On Thursday evening, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius ended the grueling debate and announced that he was not available as a candidate for chancellor. Instead, Olaf Scholz is running again. If you look at the poll numbers, this can only end in a crushing defeat - or does "still-chancellor" Scholz actually have a chance to turn the tide? It is no secret that many comrades would have liked Pistorius as their top candidate. The NRW SPD in particular has expressed its distrust of Scholz. Party leaders Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil have not managed to end the leadership crisis quickly. How do they now intend to convince the base to campaign for Olaf Scholz? And what if the poll numbers continue to plummet? But beyond that, the question remains whether Pistorius would actually have been the better candidate for the SPD. It is possible that his good approval ratings are just a projection because people want someone who will tackle the problems in the country. And they are massive: the war in Ukraine, migration, the crisis in the social security system, recession, etc. Economic development in particular is a cause for concern. Hardly a day goes by without a company announcing the elimination of further jobs. Who has the better solutions: the Merz CDU or the Scholz SPD? First, the traffic light coalition was paralyzed for weeks by internal disputes, then there was a dispute over who was responsible for the end of the traffic light coalition - Scholz or Lindner - and finally the dispute in the SPD over the right candidate for chancellor. How long can the parties afford to continue this navel-gazing without voters turning away from the democratic center? WDR editor-in-chief Ellen Ehni will discuss this with guests Marina Kormbaki, DER SPIEGEL Anna Lehmann, taz.die tageszeitung Gordon Repinski, POLITICO Thomas Sigmund, Handelsblatt