Paul Kirchhof is a visionary. His conservative social ideals coupled with his plans to radically restructure the German tax system were supposed to bring a dynamism to the CDU, which had been accused of recycling old ideas. Angela Merkel defended her choice of Kirchhof as part of her finance team during her debate with Schröder last week, while the Chancellor – sensing a convenient target – warned of the economic devastation Paul Kirchhof would bring to Germany with his "reckless policies". Since then, Merkel and the CDU have been backpedaling furiously, while the SPD watches with satisfaction, as reported in taz this morning:
Gänzlich zufrieden mit dem Verlauf der Debatte zeigte sich allein die SPD, allen voran der Bundeskanzler. "Die Union robbt sich von Kirchhof weg", stellte Gerhard Schröder zufrieden fest. Der Opposition sei die Berufung des Steuerfachmanns mittlerweile selbst "peinlich". Paul Kirchhof sei mit seinen "absurden Vorstellungen" eine "Bedrohung" für viele Menschen. Er wolle über 80 Millionen Deutsche zu "Versuchskaninchen" machen. Kurzum: "Dieser Mann lebt nicht in dieser Welt." Das hatte, mit etwas anderen Worten, auch der Stuttgarter CDU-Finanzminister gesagt.
Now, with less than a week before voters go to the polls, Schröder is the "comeback kid" and it appears increasingly unlikely that the CDU/FDP can achieve a majority to form a new government:
With six days to go until Germans vote, Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democratic party (CDU) is still ahead with 40.5%. But Mr Schröder’s Social Democrats have gone up to 34.5% after an unexpected comeback in the final stages of the campaign.
Together, Germany’s left parties now have 49.5% of the vote, compared with 47.7% for Mrs Merkel’s coalition, according to the Emnid institute poll. The gap is enough to stop Mrs Merkel forming a centre-right government with the CDU’s Bavarian sister party, the CSU, and junior coalition partner the FDP.
Actually, Der Spiegel puts the SPD at 35% this morning. Since both Schröder and the Greens have ruled out a coalition with Oskar Lafontaine’s Linkspartei, it would appear that a "Grand Coaltion" between the the CDU and SPD is the likely outcome.
