Will Angela Merkel (new German *hancellor) suck up to Junior

[...of J.Temperance]

Will Angela Merkel suck up to Junior? I CANNOT stand this woman and I hope her government collapses by the Spring, so that Germans have a new election and put the SDP back in.

Merkel is a Right-Winger, I think she'll be at home with the neo-con's. She's bad for Germany in Europe.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

1. Unlikely

At least not as far as the war is concerned:

http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=52&story_id=25392&name='No+shift'+in+Germany's+Iraq+policy+under+Merkel

[Zynx]

2. She will even though it's politically suicidal.

[...of J.Temperance]

4. We should encourage it

Then, if it'll lead to her government collapsing.

[Kellanved]

3. Is there any doubt?

Ms Merkel also plans a visit to London on Thursday and to Warsaw next week.

The new chancellor is expected to work towards repairing relations with the US, strained by Schroder's outspoken opposition to the US-led war in Iraq.

Handelsblatt quotes Washington’s ambassador in Berlin, William Timken, as saying "there will be a very regular contact between Angela Merkel and US president Bush," with Germany’s new foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier flying to the US before the end of the month.

http://euobserver.com/9/20381

[...of J.Temperance]

5. I still can't get my head around that Merkel's in

As I commented about, let's hope the sucking up leads to a new election by the Spring.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

6. It's easy to understand, really.

10% unemployment gets irritating after a while.

[...of J.Temperance]

7. And Merkel's going to sort the 10% unemployment out?

She's a Thatcherite type...so the unemployment if she's allowed to stay in will probably be 20% this time next year.

You don't sort unemployment out by putting the Right-Wing privatization crew in charge.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

8. I didn't say it would work.

I just said that I can understand how people would be sick of the current government. I think quite a few Merkel voters were more anti-Schroder than pro-Merkel. At least most of the ones I've spoken with have said that.

[...of J.Temperance]

9. Do they think that

Merkel's government will survive?

She didn't even get this by that big of a majority, so I'm hoping she going to fall...and soon.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

12. Difficult to say.

I honestly don't see her being a strong enough leader to pull it off. I'm more worried about what happens afterwards.

[...of J.Temperance]

13. The other thing is

As well as Merkel not being a strong leader, she's not even THAT popular either with the public or even with her own party.

The best hope is that her government collapses and there's a new election. That would be the afterwards.

It's odd, I'm hoping for the afterwards and you're worried about the afterwards :)

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

14. I'm worried about it because...

I think the SDP needs to tread very carefully here. Obviously there's dissatisfaction with what they've failed to accomplish under Schroder. If Merkel attempts to hold the middle ground and pushes some of the more popular, less radical CDU reform plans and the SDP blocks them, then it's possible she could use this to paint them as anti-reform, obstructionist, yadda yadda yadda - playing up the same sorts of problems and disagreements that made her as popular as she is now. In that scenario, a collapse of the coalition actually might favor CDU. At least that's my take, but I'm certainly not the most experienced observer of German politics.

Again, it all depends on how good of a politician Merkel is. And at first glance she doesn't seem to be that good.

[...of J.Temperance]

15. I understand

Merkel will try and pose as a Compassionate Conservative. I hope that Germans aren't so stupid to fall for that.

Merkel just seems very cold as a person...I pick up bad vibes when I see her on the TV.

I think Schroder was more personally popular, but I'm not sure if he's staying as the SDP leader.

[Kellanved]

17. Schröder has ended his political career

He plans to work as lawyer again.

The SPD chair was taken over by Matthias Platzeck.

http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?channel_id=2&story_id=25365

[Selatius]

18. The current government was watered down by conservatives, ahem

The conservatives won the upper house in 1999. Shroder had to move to the right to accomodate them in the coalition. If you want to blame the current government for people revolting, then you should acknowledge the fact that conservatives had a hand to play in making the current government even less attractive than before 1999. They were the ones who wanted to cut back spending on social programs, and because of the nature of coalition building, Shroder had to concede points to them.

[Kellanved]

10. Certainly

But let's not forget that Merkel's Christian union parties have a minimal lead of four seats in the Bundestag.
Under fair conditions it would have been one or two seats.

It is not like the conservative and free-market won the election in a landslide . It ended up in a draw, with the conservative parties being the strongest bloc, but a majority of the voters voting for left parties.

The unemployment was not created by Schröder. It also was not solved by Schröder. The result pretty much echoes that, forcing both big parties and the Bavarian sidekick to work together.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

11. Yup.

Unfortunately, a recipe for nothing getting done. Again.

[Kellanved]

16. Oh, I would not be so sure

Germany had a de-facto grand coalition since 1999. Actually having it official might speed things up.