(By Ray Drake)
Much like the German economy, the country’s Socialist-Green government has stagnated statistically over the past couple years, with little more than one-third of the German population backing it. This past Saturday’s “Politbarometer” showed little change in that long-term trend. Chancellor Schroeder’s SPD received 25% in the poll and the Greens received 10% for a total of 35% of the vote. The opposition CDU/CSU (Christian Democrats) received 46% and their prospective coalition partners, the FDP, received 6% for a total of 52%.
The past couple months…
…have looked a lot like the past couple years for the Socialist-Green government.
One thing is clear, Chancellor Schroeder has strongly benefited from the German media’s fixation on US politics and the prevailing dislike of President George Bush and disapproval for the Iraq war among the general population. Had the German media given more emphasis and coverage to domestic issues and the German government’s failings and less to what has been happening in the United States, Mr. Schroeder may well have already joined the growing ranks of unemployed clogging Germany’s welfare offices and unemployment bureaus.
