European leaders who dismiss opposition to their open door policies as "racist" or "xenophobic" might want to observe what's happening in Germany to Chancellor Angela Merkel.

More than a million people from North Africa and the Middle East have settled in Germany since 2015 and the social problems created by this mass exodus are wreaking havoc on German cities - and German politics.

It's not just the crime and the financial burden that the newcomers are placing on German citizens. A growing number of Germans are becoming fearful that the new arrivals are changing the national character of the country. While many in politics condemn this fear as "racist," it is, in fact, the will of the people. And Angela Merkel is experiencing the practical political downside of her policies.

The results from a regional election in the state of Hesse were an unmitigated disaster for Merkel and her "grand coalition" with the social democrats. 

Politico:

The chancellor’s CDU won 27 percent of the vote in Hesse, down from 38.3 percent in the last election in 2013, according to preliminary results. The Social Democrats (SPD) finished equal-second with the Greens, in terms of vote share, on 19.8 percent, dropping from 30.7 percent, . The Greens finished just ahead of the SPD in terms of number of votes cast and nearly doubled their 2013 result.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) scored an even bigger jump, more than tripling its 2013 result to 13.1 percent. The pro-business Free Democrats finished with 7.5 percent, according the preliminary results, while the far-left Die Linke party won 6.3 percent, both improving from 2013.

We've seen this electoral drama play out across the continent of Europe. Nationalist parties - dismissed as "fringe" or "neo-Nazi" - making huge gains at the expense of "mainstream" parties. The media has tried their best to demonize the right wing, which makes you wonder what their vote total would be if the media didn't portray the populist parties as radically racist.

For Merkel, the results in Hesse appear to have been the last straw. She is stepping down as leader of the CDU Party.

Merkel would still remain chancellor after handing over the party leadership. But giving up the party post would weaken her authority and reinforce the sense that her long reign is coming to an end.

Merkel has been leader of the CDU since 2000 and chancellor since 2005.

One potential successor to Merkel as CDU leader wasted no time in throwing his hat into the ring. Friedrich Merz, a former leader of the conservative bloc in the Bundestag, is ready to stand for the post, Bild reported just minutes after the news broke.

Another likely candidate for the leadership is CDU Secretary-General Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a former premier of the state of Saarland, who was appointed to her current post by Merkel earlier this year.

Many observers say it's only a matter of time before she resigns as chancellor - perhaps as soon as the CDU elects a new leader.

What's amazing to me is that despite the enormous effort by mainstream European parties to demonize the right and belittle those who worry about the migrant invasion of their countries, the political consequences of those leaders opening their nations to unfettered immigration are only beginning to be felt.