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Angela Merkel has been an efficient chancellor and a wise politician over the course of the past
three years. Merkel's strength is that she has been able to manage an unruly Christian
Democrat-Social Democrat coalition, which many analysts assumed would end up collapsing within well
under four years. This has not happened, and in fact the Christian Democrats are now much stronger
than the SPD and stand to do well in the next election.
Merkel's strength is that she appeals to voters across the centre of the political spectrum. Unlike
her CDU predecessor, Edward Stoiber, Merkel is not at all your traditional, run of the mill
Christian Democrat. Merkel is a childless Protestant woman, in a party that has been dominated by
fairly strong-handed Catholic men from more traditional family backgrounds. Additionally, Merkel's
Christianity (Lutheranism) is of the cerebral variant, which appeals to many SPD or liberal
supporters. Most importantly, however, Merkel is a centrist and she avoids partisan, ideological
conflicts. She is your typical "transactional" political leader, and this is precisely what is
needed to make Germany's grand coalition function. |
02 Jun 2008 18:49
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