The Comeback Kid

Recent polls suggest a tightening of the race in Germany. If nothing else, one must certainly give Gerhard Schroeder an"A" forEffort, and and "A+" for Chutzpah.

How else could you possibly characterize the events of the last several months. The gutsiness of deliberately losing a confidence vote, only to immediately and drastically trail the CDU alliance for weeks, and now seemingly making a surge at the end of the campaign is quite remarkable. Herr Schroeder has a bit of Clinton in him. His has media savvy, and always seems to know what to say to his base... a true politician. Will Germans follow Schroeder one more time?

A recent interview with the left-leaning Süddeutsche Zeitung (reported on Spiegel Online) is an excellent glimpse into the perspective of Gerhard Schroeder:

Süddeutsche Zeitung Despite everything that you have done in the last few years, nothing concrete has actually changed: unemployment figures have risen and there is practically no economic growth.

Schröder That is not true. International observers recognize that without our reforms Germany would be in a much worse position. Our problem is that many of us here in Germany are much more negative in their assessment than commentators from abroad. Major economic publications, such as The Economist, The Wall Street Journal or The Financial Times, recognize that we have made a lot of progress with our program of structural reforms. It is only at home that we talk as if Germany was still the sick man of Europe. This picture just doesn't fit the reality any more.

The Bundeskanzler does not seem to realize that his excuse, which seems to be that Germans see their economy as worse than it might actually be, IS PRECISELY THE PROBLEM. The economy in Germany is certainly not fantastic, but the larger problem is that the outlook in Germany for the citizens is so bleak that their domestic markets are horrible. There simply is not enough consumer confidence for the market to be healthy.

Süddeutsche Zeitung You always quote just the first part of The Economist article. In the second half the writer says that it is now time for the opposition Christian Democrats to take over government.

Schröder That is an assessment which has been formed without proper knowledge of German society. I am obviously going to have a different opinion.

Okay here in successive comments, he says that commentors abroad know more about Germany's economic health than Germany, as a whole, does. The Economist's thesis however according to Schroeder, cannot be supported because a lack of proper knowledge of German society. Wow, this guy is GOOD!!!

Süddeutsche Zeitung But why should people vote for you again when, after seven years in power, you still haven't achieved your most important goal -- the aim, which you announced in 1998, of reducing unemployment significantly?

Schröder That can be explained by the fact that no government has so far been faced with the amount of problems which we have had to deal with: the bursting of the internet bubble five years ago, the effects of September 11, oil prices which have risen from 15 dollars to 70 dollars a barrel. These are massive external shocks which explain why we have not been able to achieve our aim. But we are on the right course. The first signs of success are also being seen on the job market: 1500 new jobs have been created since April.

Um... Come again? No government has had to deal with the amount of problems that his government has in the last seven years? Is he the Chancelor of the US? The economy here seems to have held its own during the last seven years. The massive shocks that he speaks of, should have signalled a more energetic drive towards reforms. The US economy is not particularly worse off since these shocking events. Where I do sympathize with the Chancelor is the issue of reforms. The problem goes hand in hand with the fact that Germans are currently very pessimistic. They simply would not support his difficult, but necessary reforms. However, to boast about 1,500 new jobs since April is astonishly weak, when under the same circumstances, the US economy has been adding jobs at a rate of roughly 10 times that amount each month of late.

In about a week's time the German electorate's courage will be put to the test. The question is really quite simple... Status quo, or change -even just for the sake of change!