Schröder Steams Ahead as Merkel Derails

[Kellanved]

With only five weeks left until Germany's general election, the race is suddenly wide open again: Chancellor Gerhard Schröder appears relaxed and confident, but his conservative challenger Angela Merkel is faltering. What happened?

This isn't how Germany's opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) expected the country's surprise election campaign to play out. After Chancellor Gerhard Schröder called for an early vote in May, it looked like he'd just sealed his own political fate. With Schröder's Social Democratic Party (SPD) wallowing at all-time lows in opinion polls, the conservatives figured their victory was a done deal.

But in what appears to be a clear reversal of fortune, the SPD is on the rebound just as the CDU's once rock-steady support has started to crumble. Similarly, while Schröder has taken to the campaign trail with acumen and gusto, the conservatives' chancellor candidate Merkel has slid from one faux pas to another.

Schröder is undoubtedly still facing an uphill battle to be re-elected. But the chancellor as Dead Man Walking? Hardly. Instead of grim resignation, Schröder has projected nothing but good vibes and confidence in recent days. Able to connect with factory workers as easily as he does with art lovers -- Gerd the Mensch is revelling in campaigning just as he always has.


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