Looking at the final poll numbers, it appears that Merkel will retain the chancellery but her lackluster campaigning has may have dashed her hopes for a "black-yellow" coalition with the liberal FDP. Still, a quarter of the German voters polled indicated that they are still "undecided".
There is some interest in how well Die LINKE - the Left Party - will perform. The Left could emerge as the third strongest party if it achieves 14% of the vote and be a real "spoilier" here:
Ahead of German elections on Sunday, Die Linke – a party of former East German communists – tends to elicit chuckles from German voters, and nasty snorts from political elites.Yet emerging from an uninspiring election campaign that avoided tough issues, where "consensus" was the watchword of all five parties save Die Linke, and where 25 percent of voters are undecided – the party headed by fiery Oskar Lafontaine could bring a surprise. They are already bringing a recalculation of post-election politics.Die Linke's election motto is "Wealth for all." Known in English as the Left party, its support has shot up from 4 percent to 14 percent in polls since the 2006 elections, and is surging after a good showing in local elections three weeks ago. They attract workers, are popular in eastern Germany, and worryingly for the establishment represent a "protest vote" among Germans desiring a clearer voice for "social justice."Die Linke is the only party calling for German withdrawal from Afghanistan – an issue that could be a sleeper, though it hasn't shown up in polls yet.
In any case, Albrecht Müller in his NachDenkSeiten is predicting disaster for the SPD and wants those responsible "sent into the desert" :
Wenn die SPD Spitze nicht im Interesse der Sozialdemokratie arbeitet oder wenn sie nur aus Unvermögen diese große Partei ruiniert und als führende Kraft entsorgt, dann wäre es bei normalen demokratischen Verhältnissen oder auch nur in einem Unternehmen selbstverständlich, dass die Verantwortlichen abgelöst werden. (If the leadership of the SPD does not work in the interest of Social Democracy, or if from incompetence it ruins this great party and its leading force, then in a normal democratic situation or even in a business enterprise, those responsible would be removed.)
Also of interest: Angela Mekel's unpopoluarity in her home town of Templin and, Angela Merkel and Gregor Gysi: Two Peas in a Pod? Flashback from Dialog International in 2005: Angela Merkel: East German Opportunist.
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