When it comes to their election campaigns, Angela Merkel and her challenger Frank-Walter Steinmeier agree on one thing: It's the bankers who are the bad guys. Each of them claims to have the solution to the crisis. But their hubristic stump speeches reveal more about the candidates' over-inflated egos than concrete issues. The Hungarian border guard who famously opened the Iron Curtain in the summer of 1989 clearly also has the secret to fighting the current financial crisis. Why else should Angela Merkel speak in such great detail about him in her election campaign speeches, right at the start of each appearance? The German chancellor does a wonderful job of recounting this captivating tale. There the guard stands at the border between Hungary and Austria. Suddenly, a group of East Germans runs up to him. He phones his superior, but since he can't get him on the line, he decides right on the spot to open up the border.
When it comes to their election campaigns, Angela Merkel and her challenger Frank-Walter Steinmeier agree on one thing: It's the bankers who are the bad guys. Each of them claims to have the solution to the crisis. But their hubristic stump speeches reveal more about the candidates' over-inflated egos than concrete issues.
The Hungarian border guard who famously opened the Iron Curtain in the summer of 1989 clearly also has the secret to fighting the current financial crisis. Why else should Angela Merkel speak in such great detail about him in her election campaign speeches, right at the start of each appearance?
The German chancellor does a wonderful job of recounting this captivating tale. There the guard stands at the border between Hungary and Austria. Suddenly, a group of East Germans runs up to him. He phones his superior, but since he can't get him on the line, he decides right on the spot to open up the border.
After four years of sharing power with the Social Democrats, Chancellor Angela Merkel has made it clear she'd like to rule without them. But a new poll suggests she might not get the votes she needs. Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) hope to combine forces with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) to form a ruling coalition after the Sept. 27 general election. Yet if the election was held today, Merkel wouldn't have enough votes, according to a new Emnid poll released on Thursday. Support for the CDU has dropped to a three-month low of 34 percent, according to the poll, which is the first to fully take into account the CDU's setbacks in Germany's recent state and municipal elections. The FDP held steady at 14 percent. Together, the two parties would pull in only 48 percent of the vote, just shy of a majority. "I am quite sure Merkel will be re-elected but I'm a lot more cautious about whether she'll be able to get her preferred coalition with the FDP," said Frank Decker, a political scientist at Bonn University, told the Reuters news agency.
Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) hope to combine forces with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) to form a ruling coalition after the Sept. 27 general election.
Yet if the election was held today, Merkel wouldn't have enough votes, according to a new Emnid poll released on Thursday. Support for the CDU has dropped to a three-month low of 34 percent, according to the poll, which is the first to fully take into account the CDU's setbacks in Germany's recent state and municipal elections. The FDP held steady at 14 percent. Together, the two parties would pull in only 48 percent of the vote, just shy of a majority.
"I am quite sure Merkel will be re-elected but I'm a lot more cautious about whether she'll be able to get her preferred coalition with the FDP," said Frank Decker, a political scientist at Bonn University, told the Reuters news agency.
