US Press on the German Election

Well, nothing like a deadlocked election to wake up the journalists.  The US press pretty much ignored the political campaigns leading up to the election.  But the unexpected results last night have brought it to the front pages of many newspapers this morning.  Understandably, there is much confusion and little consensus on what the results mean - just as in Germany. 

The Wall Street Journal of course is very disappointed about the poor showing of Angela Merkel  Using its favorite phrase to describe Germany, the WSJ pronounced:" The "sick man of Europe" is likely to remain bedridden for a while longer."  The editors blame east German voters and the Linkspartei for the result.

So the nationwide showing of 8.5% by the Left Party has created the gridlock that leaves neither party able to form a coherent parliamentary majority to pursue its program. Without the votes cast in eastern Germany, the conservative coalition of the CDU and the pro-market Free Democrats would have won a clear majority.

Richard Berstein's front-page article in the New York Times credits the political skills of Gerhard Schroeder, but he also notes the uneasiness of many Germans with the CDU/CSU's economic programs:

The election concluded a seesaw campaign in which Mrs. Merkel, 51, who embraced American-style economics and closer ties with the United States, lost her momentum in the final days to Mr. Schröder, 61, a veteran politician who has argued that her economic ideas are unfair.

Craig Whitlock has provided the best consistent coverage at the Washington Post.  His take is that the German electorate is just not ready for change:

"Germans weren't ready to vote for reform. They just weren't ready to make those hard decisions necessary to make Germany competitive again," said Gary Smith, executive director of the American Academy in Berlin. "The prognosis for reform is not good in the next couple of years. It's hard to imagine a not-so-grand coalition pushing Germany ahead, except in the smallest possible steps."

Up to now, there has been little analysis in the US press about the Linkspartei and the pivotal role they could play in the Bundestag.  Nor has anyone here pointed out the one very positive outcome of the election: the right-wing extremist parties got less than 1% of the vote and are no longer a threat.

Comments

[PeWi]

Thanks for the summary, one additional point (which is also rarely made in Germany) the other consequence is, that Left is established as stronger then the right. At that might be a result that stays.

Now to report that in the SCLM, would probably see their heads explode or something...

[David]

Thanks. Yes, I note that Oskar quoted Willy Brandt: "Die Mehrheit ist jetzt links von der Mitte."

[ludwig]

I think Schroeder is right that in the German public likes him and wants him to remain chancellor. Germany seems to want a left coalition, but by ruling it out, Schroeder virtually guarentees the end of his run.

The next few weeks will be very interesting indeed.

[Andy Lang]

Thanks for the excellent summary. The U.S. media will never understand why German voters don't believe that redistributing the social product upwards to the wealthy won't make their lives better. Perhaps because Germans love to visit America, but en route to their favorite destinations (Disney World and our national parks in the West) they have a chance to see what life is like in our cities, not to mention on Indian reservations, and they know something about the consequences of the "neo-liberal Zeitgeist."

I've got some analysis of the vote at http://langohio.blogspot.com. The extraordinary thing is that the Left was the only party to win votes (1.5 million) from all of the other major parties, and the only one to increase its vote total in almost all electoral districts. Both the SPD and CDU/CSU lost millions of voters in this campaign, some of whom opted for the Left and others of whom simply did not vote.

The media in Germany, of course, are making a big deal that the FDP also picked up new voters and surged ahead to become the third strongest party in the Bundestag. Psychologically, that's important, and certainly it puts the liberals in a strong bargaining position. But ... most of those votes came from the CDU/CSU, so it's hardly evidence of a mandate for "reform." The "reform" camp did not grow but lost support in this election.