Finally, here's our election campaign promotion modelled on the National Party billboard signs:
Posted on 09/14/2005 3:42:36 PM PDT by Righty_McRight
BERLIN (AFP) - German opposition challenger Angela Merkel huddled with her closest advisors in a bid to get her election.
After holding a clear advantage for much of the election campaign, Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats have seen their lead slashed in half by Schroeder's Social Democrats with just four days to go until Sunday's voting.
Merkel now risks seeing her hopes of forming a coalition with her preferred partners, the Free Democrats, evaporate.
In a campaign dominated by the economy and tax, Schroeder has apparently succeeded in scaring undecided voters away from the Christian Democrats by homing in on controversial proposals for a 25 percent flat tax rate made by Merkel's shadow finance minister Paul Kirchhof.
Merkel's meeting with her campaign team was expected to focus on calls for her to replace Kirchhof, a former constitutional judge.
Many Christian Democrats believe the more politically experienced Friedrich Merz would be more acceptable to the electorate.
Merkel, who is bidding to become Germany's first woman chancellor, said before the meeting in Berlin that she was in favour of the two men working side by side.
"I need Paul Kirchhof as much as Friedrich Merz," Merkel said. "Given the state the country is in, we need everyone we can get."
Kirchhof, who has admitted he has been shocked by the personal attacks he has received since entering the political arena, has welcomed the idea of working with Merz.
"Working in tandem would be ideal," he said.
A poll released on Tuesday showed the Christian Democrats' support holding steady at 42 percent but gave the Social Democrats (SPD) 33.5 percent, confirming that Schroeder has made a lasting dent in his challenger's lead.
But the Emnid poll for N24 television also predicted that Merkel's chosen coalition would score the same 48.5 percent as an alliance of Schroeder's Social Democrats, their current partners the Greens and the Left Party, an amalgamation of former communists and disgruntled Social Democrats.
However, all three parties are currently ruling out such a coalition.
Merkel told a rally in Stralsund in the former East Germany on Tuesday that only her chosen coalition could bring a political upheaval and reduce the country's stubbornly high unemployment rate of 11.4 percent.
"We urgently need a political change in Germany. You will only get that change with the CDU/CSU and the FDP," Merkel said in a feisty speech.
Schroeder himself told a rally in Potsdam outside Berlin late Tuesday to ignore the opinion polls which showed he was still up to nine points behind.
"It is not they who will decide, but we when we go to the polls on Sunday," Schroeder said to applause from the crowd of 9,000.
Neither leader mentioned the possibility that the election will produce an unwieldy grand coalition of the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats, with Merkel at the helm of what could be a deadlocked government and Schroeder in political retirement.
I think that come election day, the Social Democrats will have a turnout problem. That's how it is with governments presiding over high unemployment. They often perform decently in polls, but turnout collapses on election day (see: Jimmy Carter election of 1980).
The Merkel coalition was always at +/- 48% and Schroeder isn't going into a coalition with the Communists. There will not be any "unwieldy grand coalition". Half the seats are proportionate and half winner takes all.
The intent of the article seems to be to sow doubt among the undecideds about Markel's judgement.
It's interesting how the German MSM does spin compared to ours. Theirs is more subtle , but no less disingenuous.
If Schroeder wins again, Germany can go to H*ll.
The Europeans, to include the Germans, are just too enamoured with socialism to break away from it. No matter the evidence that marxist/socialist economics are a disaster, the Europeans just can't pry themselves away from the dream.
Europe is in serious decline. A selfish, live for today attitude tied with an unwillingness to confront Islamic radicalism or any potential foe for that matter, means Europe as a Western power is finished. Unfortunantly, this means things will continue deteriorating with the Europeans utterly unwilling or unable to change course. The reaction will be that extreme parties will start to make headway - both right and left.
Socialism as an economic and social model is poison to the human spirit. It's draw is like heroin - to both intellectual classes and the ingorant masses. It should very specifically be written out of our, and every other, constitution.
"The Europeans, to include the Germans, are just too enamoured with socialism to break away from it."
Not really, only in France and Germany. The rest of Europe left socialism a long time ago. Check out the Heritage foundations "Index of economic freedom", most European countries score pretty high (In many cases higher than the US), but France and Germany are still relatively socialist.
"Europe is in serious decline. A selfish, live for today attitude tied with an unwillingness to confront Islamic radicalism or any potential foe for that matter, means Europe as a Western power is finished."
I agree with that, but it's not just the socialist parts. Even the liberal (in the european sense) capitalist countries there are weak and in decline (though not economic).
"Socialism as an economic and social model is poison to the human spirit."
I couldn't agree more. And couldn't have said it better myself.
Welcome to the 20th Century, Herr Kirchhof. And things are even worse here in the 21st.
Seriously, how can anyone be shocked by personal attacks? Was Rathergate covered in Germany?
I agree with you that it is not necessarily countries that are weak in defence and WOT must be economically socialist. One of the most extreme example is Luxembourg - it is economically rich and free market, but on foreign policy and WOT it is squarely anti-American in the Axis of Weasels sense.
The same is largely the official policy platform of successive New Zealand governments since the mid 1980s. Promoting free trade and pacifism and UN "international law" at the same time - I trust many of the pacifist Cato Institute members must be quite approving of this.
And to complicate matters there is the issue of social/moral conservatism, but there are probably other FRers more knowledgable on this.
They (the MSM) tried another trick today: reproaching the CDU with disrespecting the voters by calling for another early election if there´s no majority for CDU/CSU/FDP. The CDU denied that plan. Obviously a dirty trick to make us unpopular.
You´re damn-ed right. But he won´t win. I have a bet on this about a USO care package.
Mr. Kirchhof was a Justice (judge in Germanys highest court). He´s not used to personal attacks, and he isn´t really a politican. Mr. Kirchhof isn´t even member of a party.
All the best to you Michael. We are having our election a day before yours and from the polls our Left (which is currently in power) seems to be on their way out.
Let's pray that it will be watersheds for every country concerned, just as it was in some ways for Japan last week (I know, the LDP in Japan was destined to win but still Koizumi's win was remarkable in some ways).
Oh, I didn´t know you´re voting, too. So all the best to you! We´ll make it. We simply have to. :-)
Finally, here's our election campaign promotion modelled on the National Party billboard signs:
The article does mention that he was a constitutional judge. So if he's not a member of the CDU, how does he become Merkel's shadow finance minister?
I endorse the principle of a flat-rate tax, if properly implemented. At any rate, I hope that Merkel wins.
First of all, the flat tax is not supported by the CDU, we will think about it, but it´s not in our government program. We´re gonna lowering the income tax from currently 15-42% to 12-39% (depending on the income).
Then, Germanys highest court is the Federal Constitutional Court, the Justices interprete the constitution.
It´s not that wide-spread to appoint "neutral" people to Ministers, but just like Bush has a Democrat in his government, Chancellors here sometimes choose non-party members.
Nevertheless, it´s no secret that Kirchhof is a supporter of my party.
So just like here, it´ll be a close race. Take care!
Hey, I just saw where Merkel retook the lead. YEAH!!!!!!!
Get Schroeder out of there!
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