GERMAN ELECTION (Running Thread): Schroeder by a Nosehair

Die Welt- translated ^ | 9/22/02 | Die Welt

[Prodigal Son]

Hmmm. We have a house in Hessen (well, my wife does). Willingen- up in the Hochsauerland. Nice area. We might even move back there one day.

[SkyRat]

The FDP is doing even worse than the Greens right now. Do you think its mainly because of Mollemann?

Though question. But I think so, yes. Nothing else changed.

[UofORepublican]

Why the hell did he have to shoot his mouth off two days before the election? I felt sorry for him months ago when Spiegel went after him, but this is not the time to go off about Jews, not two days before an election. I hope the FDP does something about him for once.

[YummiBox]

news.at (Austrian) is calling it for Stoiber... but the congress is still in question. who knows?

[eabinga]

Stoiber critizizing Schröder and his anti-americanism on TV now.... I hope CNN shows it...

[Wait4Truth]

This is driving me nuts...

[eabinga]

Congress elects the chancellor...

[JamesWilson]

Up to 51% (progressive). Also add a 16% sales tax to that and some others payroll taxes...

OUCH!!!

[eabinga]

Schröder and Stoiber together now in German TV studios being interviewed...almost like a debate

[JamesWilson]

Too high :-)

I see that! Well, don't look at me, I voted for the FDP. What can I do if every guy around me is voting for some socalist party, be it SPD or CSU.

Just keep spreadin' the word. Good Luck.

[SkyRat]

Yeah, he screwed it up pretty badly. If I'm not mistaken he resigned from the FDP.

The problem of the FDP is that they don't have sympathic politicans. Westerwelle looks like a gay idiot, Mölleman can't keep his mouth shut for longer than 5 minutes and thats about it.

[Lessismore]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=574&ncid=721&e=1&u=/nm/20020922/wl_nm/germany_dc

Germany's SPD/Greens Back Ahead in TV Estimate

Sun Sep 22, 2:39 PM ET

BERLIN (Reuters) - A projection for ARD television Sunday indicated that German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's coalition of Social Democrats and Greens were headed for a tiny majority in parliament over a conservative-liberal alliance.

The latest projection, based on early counts from Sunday's general election, gave Schroeder's center-left SPD 38.1 percent and the environmentalist Greens 8.6 percent, to 38.8 percent for Edmund Stoiber's conservatives and 7.3 percent for their traditional partners, the liberal Free Democrats.

ARD said its calculations indicated this would giving the current SPD/Greens coalition a one-seat parliamentary majority.

ARD's previous projection had put the conservative-liberal alliance in a slim lead.

However, separate projections for ZDF television showed the two possible coalitions level in terms of seats in parliament.

A provisional official result will not be known until after midnight local time (2200 GMT), although German television was broadcasting progressively more accurate projections.

[vbmoneyspender]

It's called a democracy! Something the US could learn from with only two parties and a few millionaires....

Yeah sure -- we should be taking lessons from Germany on how to run a country. Anymore bright ideas.

[UofORepublican]

Why the hell did he say these things? He knew damn well this would happen. If the center right loses this by a hair he will be the main culprit.

[RobFromGa]

[x]

Recent evens in Germany prove two things that get said here a lot.

The first is that a highly regulated, highly taxed welfare state with much social insurance and many social welfare programs is a drag on the economy. When voters are discontented, though, they may well vote for more of the same, having grown used to state intervention and having come to rely on it. So one digs oneself deeper and deeper into a hole, until someone comes along to change things.

That seems to be a general trend or law, though one can't rely on it in every case. What makes Germany different from France or Sweden is the burden of East Germany. Other country's can postpone the reckoning. Germany inherited a dependent, unindustrious population in the East, so the drag is much heavier there than in other European countries.

The second thing is that the Gramscian, "long march through the institutions" of the 1960s New Left will have an effect. I'd have said that the former New Leftists were more likely to be influenced by the capitalist system than to influence conditions in a radical direction.

On the whole, that's probably true, but at key moments, the leftist antecedents of officials like Schroeder or Fischer will have an effect. And that time is now: see Germany's attitude towards Bush's Iraq war. A CDU leader might also be tempted to tweak America for political gain, but it would be understood to be part of the electoral game. With Schroeder and Fischer it's more serious than that.

Deutsche Welle is a good source for news from Germany in English (and other languages).

[Dog]

Why the hell did he say these things? He knew damn well this would happen. If the center right loses this by a hair he will be the main culprit.

Maybe that was the plan...

Watch to see if he gets a seat in the government.........if Schroder should pull this off..

[SkyRat]

I'm not a mind reader. I'm not a great fan of Mölleman either way. This is just the last step in a long series of bad moves.

[RobFromGa]

Well what's the deal? Is this one over? Or still too close to call?

[OldFriend]

AMERICA has much to teach and nothing to learn from Germany.