A Christian Leader for Germany?

[im10ashus]

This should please the * Administration. Schroeder wouldn't back the US in the Iraq war, and now they have the leader they want for Germany.

Germans Vote in Close-Fought Election


BERLIN, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Germans were voting on Sunday in a nailbitingly close and often bitterly fought election that will set the agenda for reform of Europe's largest economy.

The Christian Democrats (CDU) under Angela Merkel have consistently led the opinion polls and she has been generally expected to become chancellor, displacing Gerhard Schroeder, whose centre-left government has held power for seven years.

But with many of the 62 million voters undecided on the eve of the vote, it was unclear if she could muster enough support to form the centre-right coalition she says is needed to push through deep reforms of Germany's ailing economy.

"It's going to be a thriller," said Christl Schulz, one of a group dressed in traditional Bavarian costume who were voting before going to church in Brunnthal, south of Munich.

cont'd...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/18/international/europe/18wire-germany.html?hp&ex=1127102400&en=9001f9e854304815&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[librechik]

1. oh, Christ...

what next?

[tx_dem41]

2. Your title is premature....on BBC not more than 2 minutes ago...

they stated that it appeared they did not have enough seats to form a center-right coalition. The jury is still out.

[im10ashus]

7. You are correct.

I meant to make that a question as opposed to an exclamation. Thanks for the heads-up!

:hi:

[Squatch]

3. You mean Germans will have the leader *they* want...

Brunnthal, not too far from where I grew up.

[IChing]

4. A thatcher type" iron lady"

Merkel supports a substantial reform agenda concerning Germany's economic and social system. Merkel is considered to be more pro-free market (and pro-deregulation) than her own party (the CDU); she has advocated changes to German labour law, specifically, removing barriers to firing employees and increasing the allowed number of work hours in a week, arguing that current laws make the country less competitive because companies cannot easily control labour costs at times when business is slow. <2>

Merkel believes there should be a strong transatlantic partnership and German-American friendship. In the spring of 2003, defying strong public opposition, Merkel came out in favor of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, describing it as "unavoidable" and accusing Chancellor Gerhard Schröder of reactionary anti-Americanism. This led some critics to characterize her as an American lackey.

[im10ashus]

9. She is very much in the realm of Thatcher.

Wikipedia has made the same comparison.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Merkel

[11cents]

5. "Christian Democrat" = moderately conservative

And "moderately conservative" by European standards, meaning liberal by ours. It's a generic European name for the center-right party; it's not as if she's a religious right candidate. If Merkel wins, Germany's foreign policy won't change dramatically.

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. Yeah, I was gonna say I don't think that party is nearly as fundy as the

GOP is here.

[JVS]

6. The CDU has pretty much dominated post-war German government

36 of the last 56 years the chancellor has been CDU and before Schroeder it was 36 of 49. I don't expect any surprises from Merkel

[ecoflame]

8. Thank you 11cents

I lived in Germany for two years and the German designation for their political parties are quite different from ours.

Here's an article from Pravda about the CDU -
http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/91/365/16137_elections.html

And, here's the English site of 'Der Spiegel'
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/


Now - go educate yourself and slow down on jumping to conclusions, dude.

Oh, and no, this won't please the administration. If Merkel becomes chancellor, her party more than likely will not be the party in power in Parliament...unless they tandem up with another party.

[im10ashus]

10. Well welcome back to America.

Where it's okay to have an opinion.

She HAS indicated she supports * in his invasion of Iraq. So I will stand by my statement.

You are correct that she will not have the power in Parliament she had hoped for and thus will have more of a fight on her hands.

Thanks for the links. Dude.

[ecoflame]

12. I've been back for some time....

Don't be a smartass - you know it's perfectly okay to have an opinion. What was posted was not an opinion; it was a factually inaccurate statement regarding a German political party & the national race for chancellor.

Where has she indicated support for Bush's invasion of Iraq? Provide your source. She's more concerned about Germany.

And for the record, there are MANY other countries where it really IS okay to have an opinion and to express it. Anyone who has been in the United States in the last several years has a pretty good inkling of how dissent is viewed by this administration and their proponents.

[im10ashus]

13. I am not being a smartass so cool your engines.

You are merely being contrary. It doesn't change my opinion or the facts. She has been widely perceived as THE choice by this American administration, given that Schroeder has not been willing to kiss their asses.

To wit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Merkel

Merkel believes there should be a strong transatlantic partnership and German-American friendship. In the spring of 2003, defying strong public opposition, Merkel came out in favor of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, describing it as "unavoidable" and accusing Chancellor Gerhard Schröder of reactionary anti-Americanism. This led some critics to characterize her as an American lackey.


It sounds like you are defending her and that's fine. But don't call me a smartass for disagreeing with you. I WAS trying to be civil, but obviously you have no room for that in your limited view. So if you want an argument bring it on. I hope find solace in your misplaced anger.

Cheers!

[ecoflame]

14. Firstly...

I'm not defending Angela Merkel nor am I being contrary. This was about your characterization of the CDU, a German political party, which was incorrect. I can't stand wrong info no matter who spews it.

As for Merkel, it's up to the German people who they want as their chancellor. As a source, I don't put much value in 'wikipedia'.

And this - this is your attempt at being civil?
"I WAS trying to be civil, but obviously you have no room for that in your limited view."

Goodness.

[im10ashus]

15. Where did I characterize the CDU?

She differs widely from her "party" and has made many statements to show as much. She's a conservative in EVERy sense of the word.

You seem very determined to defend her, no matter what I say, so you have obviously already made up your mind.

Conservative much?

She IS and she WILL be a * ass kisser. Whether you like it or not.

Goodness indeed.

Don't like my opinion? Prove me wrong!!! Show ME her liberal views and how she has looked out for the little people. You would be very hard-pressed to do so.

[ecoflame]

20. Where did you characterize the CDU?

You've edited your response where you mentioned the CDU candidate as a religious (christian)candidate which indicated your misunderstanding the CDU.

I'm not defending Angela Merkel nor have I been.

I know the German party system because I lived there and it's pretty evident you do not or you wouldn't have characterize the CDU as you did.

http://www.cdu.de/ - This is CDU's home page.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

16. I believe that the Christian Democrats are actually a Catholic party,

not a fundie party.

Like most European countries, Germany has very few fundamentalists of the American type. Most people identify as either Catholics or "Evangelical," which is the generic term for Protestant. (The Kaiser forced the Lutherans and Calvinists to unite back in the nineteenth century to form the Evangelical Reformed Church.) On the whole, however, most people attend church only on ceremonial occasions and holidays.

[im10ashus]

17. But her views and her political leanings...

are consistent with our own conservatives in this country.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

18. She's an economic conservative, not a social conservative

There aren't a lot of fundie-type conservatives in western Europe.

[KingFlorez]

19. She's not like the hard conservatives here

She's a hard-line pro-business conservative, but she supports for abortion rights and is rather socially moderate. She's nowhere near as bad as the conservatives here.

[ecoflame]

21. Here's a listing of German political parties

It's almost to the end of the page under the heading: Parties represented in the Bundestag

http://www.german-embassy.org.uk/elections_and_political_partie.html#btwahl98