Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the Social Democratic Party's chancellor candidate and veteran bureaucrat, never wanted power. Over the course of the election campaign, he has transformed himself from a dull pen-pusher to something approaching a passionate speaker. But is it enough to convince Germany's voters? "Please welcome the future chancellor of Germany," says the announcer. "Yes we Fraaank!" shout his supporters in response. It seems ridiculous to pretend as if the man walking into the room, Social Democratic chancellor candidate Frank-Walter Steinmeier, is going to be the future chancellor of Germany, when his party is currently polling at about 22 to 23 percent of the vote. How can someone who doesn't exactly ooze charisma be compared with US President Barack Obama? And can German voters truly expect "change" from a candidate who has held senior positions in two administrations over the last 11 years, and whose last hope of becoming chancellor is based on a shaky alliance with the Green Party and the pro-business Free Democratic Party?
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the Social Democratic Party's chancellor candidate and veteran bureaucrat, never wanted power. Over the course of the election campaign, he has transformed himself from a dull pen-pusher to something approaching a passionate speaker. But is it enough to convince Germany's voters?
"Please welcome the future chancellor of Germany," says the announcer. "Yes we Fraaank!" shout his supporters in response.
It seems ridiculous to pretend as if the man walking into the room, Social Democratic chancellor candidate Frank-Walter Steinmeier, is going to be the future chancellor of Germany, when his party is currently polling at about 22 to 23 percent of the vote. How can someone who doesn't exactly ooze charisma be compared with US President Barack Obama? And can German voters truly expect "change" from a candidate who has held senior positions in two administrations over the last 11 years, and whose last hope of becoming chancellor is based on a shaky alliance with the Green Party and the pro-business Free Democratic Party?
Social Democratic gains could scupper hopes of new right-wing alliance A slow, but steady, tightening of the poll numbers in Germany is threatening Angela Merkel's hopes of forming a new centre-right coalition, and could, if it accelerates, even complicate her ambition to serve a second term as Chancellor. Opinion polls taken over the past week have shown Ms Merkel's CDU-CSU alliance losing ground to Germany's second largest party, the Social Democrats, led by Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The decline is not dramatic, but it is enough to mean that no possibility should be ruled out when Germans go to the polls on Sunday.Until now, it has been taken pretty much for granted that Ms Merkel will be returned to power, probably at the head of a coalition with the free-market FDP, or - failing that - in a continuation of the so-called Grand coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD). The Chancellor has made no secret of her strong preference for joining up with the FDP, whose flagship policies are business-friendly tax cuts and an end to the phasing out of nuclear power.
A slow, but steady, tightening of the poll numbers in Germany is threatening Angela Merkel's hopes of forming a new centre-right coalition, and could, if it accelerates, even complicate her ambition to serve a second term as Chancellor.
Opinion polls taken over the past week have shown Ms Merkel's CDU-CSU alliance losing ground to Germany's second largest party, the Social Democrats, led by Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The decline is not dramatic, but it is enough to mean that no possibility should be ruled out when Germans go to the polls on Sunday.
Until now, it has been taken pretty much for granted that Ms Merkel will be returned to power, probably at the head of a coalition with the free-market FDP, or - failing that - in a continuation of the so-called Grand coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD). The Chancellor has made no secret of her strong preference for joining up with the FDP, whose flagship policies are business-friendly tax cuts and an end to the phasing out of nuclear power.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel looks set to win another election victory on Sunday. Outside Germany she is seen as something of a feminist icon, one of the most powerful women in the world. But inside Germany, when it comes to policies that actually favor women, her record is meager. When French Vogue chose to dedicate its September issue to "heroines," some of the women the style bible commended for their "courage" and "charisma" were obvious choices: Burmese democracy leader Aung Sung Suu Kyi, Noble Prize Laureate Toni Morrison, French ovarian cancer advocate Dominique Stoppa-Lyonnet, and Lydia Cacho Ribeiro, a crusading Mexican journalist. And then there was Angela Merkel, the conservative prime minister of a Western European country. The woman who has governed Germany for the past four years has become something of a global super star -- admired for being a woman in what is still very much a man's world. Merkel has been named Forbes "Most Powerful Woman in the World" for four years in a row, she has appeared on the cover of countless magazines -- such as this week's Economist -- and she has enjoyed a positive reception since she hit the world stage back in 2005. Yet, there is a disconnect at play between how Merkel is perceived at home and abroad as well as her party's female-positive policies. She may be something of a feminist icon overseas but things look a bit different back home in Deutschland.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel looks set to win another election victory on Sunday. Outside Germany she is seen as something of a feminist icon, one of the most powerful women in the world. But inside Germany, when it comes to policies that actually favor women, her record is meager.
When French Vogue chose to dedicate its September issue to "heroines," some of the women the style bible commended for their "courage" and "charisma" were obvious choices: Burmese democracy leader Aung Sung Suu Kyi, Noble Prize Laureate Toni Morrison, French ovarian cancer advocate Dominique Stoppa-Lyonnet, and Lydia Cacho Ribeiro, a crusading Mexican journalist. And then there was Angela Merkel, the conservative prime minister of a Western European country. The woman who has governed Germany for the past four years has become something of a global super star -- admired for being a woman in what is still very much a man's world.
Merkel has been named Forbes "Most Powerful Woman in the World" for four years in a row, she has appeared on the cover of countless magazines -- such as this week's Economist -- and she has enjoyed a positive reception since she hit the world stage back in 2005. Yet, there is a disconnect at play between how Merkel is perceived at home and abroad as well as her party's female-positive policies. She may be something of a feminist icon overseas but things look a bit different back home in Deutschland.
Pollsters have long tipped a return to power for Angela Merkel. But just days ahead of the German election, a new survey shows that voter participation is likely to sink, prompting German commentators to question the health of the country's democracy. In the days, weeks and months before last year's United States election, Germany had a severe case of Obamania and the papers were full of little else. By contrast, the run up to this national election has been a subdued affair. And now a new poll has shown that a growing number of Germans are set to reveal their disaffection with the political landscape on Sunday -- by staying away from the ballot boxes. The latest survey by pollster Allensbach Institute conducted for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, turnout could be historically low. The poll found that some 35 percent of the electorate still remains undecided. Meanwhile, only 65 percent of those surveyed felt sure they would cast their ballot on Sunday -- compared with at least 70 percent of those asked ahead of the previous three general elections. Pollsters have long tipped that German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) will return to power, most likely in a center-right coalition supported by the business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP). There are recent signs that the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) is gaining ground, putting some much-needed momentum into the election race. But Thursday's newspapers homed in on another poll forecast showing that Germans are becoming increasingly apathetic about their democracy. Concerned commentators hunted for the reasons behind this tendency: While some blamed an increasingly narrow political spectrum, others feared that the smugness of today's politicians is dampening voter enthusiasm.
Pollsters have long tipped a return to power for Angela Merkel. But just days ahead of the German election, a new survey shows that voter participation is likely to sink, prompting German commentators to question the health of the country's democracy.
In the days, weeks and months before last year's United States election, Germany had a severe case of Obamania and the papers were full of little else. By contrast, the run up to this national election has been a subdued affair. And now a new poll has shown that a growing number of Germans are set to reveal their disaffection with the political landscape on Sunday -- by staying away from the ballot boxes.
The latest survey by pollster Allensbach Institute conducted for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, turnout could be historically low. The poll found that some 35 percent of the electorate still remains undecided. Meanwhile, only 65 percent of those surveyed felt sure they would cast their ballot on Sunday -- compared with at least 70 percent of those asked ahead of the previous three general elections.
Pollsters have long tipped that German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) will return to power, most likely in a center-right coalition supported by the business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP). There are recent signs that the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) is gaining ground, putting some much-needed momentum into the election race. But Thursday's newspapers homed in on another poll forecast showing that Germans are becoming increasingly apathetic about their democracy. Concerned commentators hunted for the reasons behind this tendency: While some blamed an increasingly narrow political spectrum, others feared that the smugness of today's politicians is dampening voter enthusiasm.
On the day the G20 summit opens in Pittsburgh, author Jeremy Seabrook in the Guardian argues that in order to solve global problems such as climate change and the economic crisis, we need to escape our market-driven definition as greedy individuals. The global imagery of capitalist plenty has long ago been usurped, not only by other visions of an earthly paradise, but also other versions of prosperity. Capitalist ideology has ceased to be abstract theory and is made tangible in every object of desire set before us. At the same time, in this promiscuous spillage of commodities, a whole moral universe is implicit.
On the day the G20 summit opens in Pittsburgh, author Jeremy Seabrook in the Guardian argues that in order to solve global problems such as climate change and the economic crisis, we need to escape our market-driven definition as greedy individuals.
The global imagery of capitalist plenty has long ago been usurped, not only by other visions of an earthly paradise, but also other versions of prosperity. Capitalist ideology has ceased to be abstract theory and is made tangible in every object of desire set before us. At the same time, in this promiscuous spillage of commodities, a whole moral universe is implicit.
How is a system to function where return on investment is on one side of the balance and all other values combined are on the other and the pan containing return on investment will not move off the table? Poorly at best, I would surmise---and observe. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
Reality Check: Europe's Shaky Giant - By Christian Caryl | Foreign Policy
Thomas Petersen of the Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion Research notes that, as recently as 15 or 20 years ago, the two big mainstream political parties of CDU and SPD could each consistently count on drawing 40 percent of the votes in national elections. That made the country's political landscape steady, predictable, and consensus-oriented -- read "downright dull."This appears to have changed for good. The power of the unions and traditional working-class groups that used to make up the bulk of the Social Democrats' support has been steadily waning. The weakening of the Catholic Church's hold on more conservative voters has had a comparable effect -- though to a lesser extent -- on the core of the CDU. And the smaller parties on the right and left -- the Liberals and the Greens -- have benefited. All of this could complicate post-election politicking considerably. The main danger is that an ambiguous result could lead to long and paralyzing coalition negotiations at a time when decisions on larger issues urgently need to be made. The old predictability, in short, is no longer a given.Plus, nowadays there's a wild card: the Left Party, created from the ruins of the old East German communists and the disaffected left wing of the old SPD. The Left talks about "overcoming capitalism" and questions the long-standing alliance with the United States -- and correspondingly rejects Germany's participation in NATO's Afghan campaign. Though most Germans probably don't accept every plank in that program, polls show that about two-thirds of them consistently agree with the Left's skepticism on Afghanistan. Constanze Stelzenmüller, of the Berlin Office of the German Marshall Fund, says the reason the issue hasn't flared up much during the election campaign so far is that all the main political parties except for the Left support the Bundeswehr's presence in Central Asia, meaning that no one has much of an interest in allowing it to become a marquee issue. "That could translate into a vote for the Left on election day," Stelzenmüller says. In particular, she notes, the Social Democrats "are being torn down the middle" as frustrated left-wingers desert them for the Left.
Thomas Petersen of the Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion Research notes that, as recently as 15 or 20 years ago, the two big mainstream political parties of CDU and SPD could each consistently count on drawing 40 percent of the votes in national elections. That made the country's political landscape steady, predictable, and consensus-oriented -- read "downright dull."
This appears to have changed for good. The power of the unions and traditional working-class groups that used to make up the bulk of the Social Democrats' support has been steadily waning. The weakening of the Catholic Church's hold on more conservative voters has had a comparable effect -- though to a lesser extent -- on the core of the CDU. And the smaller parties on the right and left -- the Liberals and the Greens -- have benefited. All of this could complicate post-election politicking considerably. The main danger is that an ambiguous result could lead to long and paralyzing coalition negotiations at a time when decisions on larger issues urgently need to be made. The old predictability, in short, is no longer a given.
Plus, nowadays there's a wild card: the Left Party, created from the ruins of the old East German communists and the disaffected left wing of the old SPD. The Left talks about "overcoming capitalism" and questions the long-standing alliance with the United States -- and correspondingly rejects Germany's participation in NATO's Afghan campaign. Though most Germans probably don't accept every plank in that program, polls show that about two-thirds of them consistently agree with the Left's skepticism on Afghanistan. Constanze Stelzenmüller, of the Berlin Office of the German Marshall Fund, says the reason the issue hasn't flared up much during the election campaign so far is that all the main political parties except for the Left support the Bundeswehr's presence in Central Asia, meaning that no one has much of an interest in allowing it to become a marquee issue. "That could translate into a vote for the Left on election day," Stelzenmüller says. In particular, she notes, the Social Democrats "are being torn down the middle" as frustrated left-wingers desert them for the Left.
Gysi looks presentably Photoshopped, rather like a mildly cadaverous proto-Gorbachev, and Merkel - at least I think that's Merkel - seems to be trying to persuade you that she's a floating head.
The others look like sitcom characters, and will haunt your nightmares.
