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BERLIN The placards on Berlins boulevard known as the Kurfustendamm (search) call on Germans to vote for parties from the far left to the right. All parties promise voters desperately needed jobs and a brighter future for a nation in despair.
For German voters, unemployment hovering near the 5 million mark has been the biggest issue leading up to the Sept. 18 election. It has allowed an unlikely challenger to pose a serious threat to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's (search) incumbency.
Why should Americans care about this election?
Because a victory by Angela Merkel (search), the candidate of the conservative Christian Democratic Party (search), will signal the revival of stronger ties between Washington and Berlin. Merkel, an unassuming physicist from former communist East Germany, commands a slim six point lead over Social Democrat Schroeder, according to the Sept. 12 issue of Der Spiegel (search), a respected German weekly. Merkel is more sympathetic to American foreign policy than the current chancellor. The Christian Democratic Platform (search), issued in July, declares that we will revive the transatlantic cooperation with the United States.
Simply put, should Merkel become the first female chancellor of Germany, President Bush will find the leading party in Germany to be one that traditionally espouses strong ties to the United States.
Karsten Voight, coordinator of German-American relations and an advisor to Chancellor Schroeder, conceded in an interview that German-American relations would be better under Merkel than they currently are under Schroeder. German-American relations have been badly strained since 2002 when Chancellor Schroeder promised that his left-leaning Social Democratic Party (search) would not permit Germany to be drawn into a war with Iraq.
President Bush was infuriated and has shunned the German leader since then.
Merkel has done everything she can to distance herself from Schroeders criticism of Bushs foreign policy and has expressed cautious support for Bushs Iraq policy both before and during the war. It is wrong to separate the issues of terrorism and Saddam Hussein, she said. We need to see things from the perspective of the United States.
Despite her more pro-American stand, she has made clear that German troops will not be sent to Iraq. She will continue the little-publicized German army training of Iraqi officers in the Gulf States.
Schroeder is partly pinning his hopes for re-election on his popular stand against the Iraq war and his claim to have made Germany a respected force for peace.
Merkels vocal skepticism of Schroeders support for the lifting of the European arms embargo against China (search)a proposal that Bush came out strongly againstis also likely to endear her to Washington.
Merkel is expected to present a less Eurocentric foreign policy that is more independent of France and Russia. Both nations are frequent critics of American foreign policy, and Schroeder often shares their views.
German conservatives yearn for a special relationship with the United States, similar to the one enjoyed by Great Britain.
"We had that for most of the post-war period and it enhanced Germanys influence in Europe," said Jens Paulus, an expert on America at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (search) in Berlin. "We dont have that anymore because of Schroeders strong ties with the French and Russians and their regular sniping at the Americans.
Of course, should pro-American Merkel be elected chancellor, she will still govern a nation deeply critical of the war in Iraq and of President Bushand German criticism of the United States will not change because a pro-American chancellor is elected. Only 13 percent of Germans polled this year think that German-American relations will improve while Bush is president, according to Manfred Gullner, Director of Forsa, an opinion polling center in Berlin.
However, Gullner also said that most Germans dont think Schroeders Social Democrats have any remedies for the nations worsening economic situation. In spite of his incumbency and popular anti-war position, Schroeders party is the underdog in the upcoming election because it has failed to lower unemployment, has rammed through unpopular economic reforms that cut workers benefits and has failed to make a dent in the nations growing debt.
Germany is weighed down by the huge costs of reunification and burdened with an expensive welfare system that is badly in the red. Consumer confidence has struck rock bottom and is holding back domestic demand. This has become the biggest obstacle to growth. Germans see their generous benefits threatened and the economy getting worse.
During a nationally televised debate on Sept. 4, Merkel repeatedly attacked Schroeder for not cutting the ranks of the jobless. The next morning Volkswagen (search) announced that it would make deep job cuts in Germany as this giant automaker continues to lose money. Autoworkers in Germany earn $41.37 an hour, which includes the generous benefits mandated by law and negotiated with powerful unions.
theim said:Can I ask a question? How, in Germany of all places, can a political party actually have "Christian" in their name? I know if someone tried that in America, the secularists would (successfully) attempt to persuade people that they are fundamentalist zealots.
nucular said:Back in the "good old days" their motto was"Gott Mit Uns". Maybe it's ironic.
Bonnie said:"Gott Mit Uns" Got wooden shoes??? J/k
canavar said:it means god with us.
europeans are secularists. French the most.
In eu constitution secularists fought their interests, the word christianity is not even mentioned in EU constitution. Anyway it was blocked in France and denmark by referendum.
