German Election: Bye Bye Gerhard?

Let's hope so. I've been wanting to post more about the run-up to today's election in Germany for the last couple of months. But between travel schedule, work, Paul's move, etc. I've been a little hamstrung on that front. But today's election represents an opportunity to improve the tone in this important trans-Atlantic relationship. Notice that I said tone and not substance.

Gerhard Schroeder, the Social Democrats and the red-green coalition are not my favorite folks in the world. Their token and ineffectual efforts to reform structural impediments to growth in Germany have been bad for the German people. And Schroeder's coalition has made a political career out of throwing gas on the fire of latent anti-Americanism. While a victory by Angela Merkel and the CDU won't result in German troops on the ground in Iraq or radical shifts in the nation's approach to dealing with the demographic challenges to its beloved social safety net, I would think that a change in governments (which seems a foregone conclusion) would be a positive step for Germany and our bilateral relationship with that country.

The guys over at David's Medienkritik (of course) provide a concise overview of the stakes, likely outcomes and ramifications. Additional analysis is provided by Spiegel Online, Craig Hines of the Houston Chronicle and the AP's David Rising. Germany's Deutsche Welle takes a look at facts, figures and demography.