JUST AS THERE ARE NO NEW DEMOCRATS WITHOUT BILL CLINTON:

Merkel named as German chancellor (BBC, 10/11/05)

Angela Merkel is to become Germany's first woman chancellor under a deal agreed between her Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Social Democrats (SPD).

Mrs Merkel confirmed the deal at a news conference and said a CDU-SPD "grand coalition" would have to create jobs and push through economic reforms.

How are they going to do that when Mr. Schroeder was the only one on the Left who supported reforms?

MORE:
'Coalition will have no honeymoon' (Judy Dempsey and Mark Landler, 10/10/05, International Herald Tribune)

Coalition building and horse trading are a central reality of German politics. But, since World War II, perhaps no German government has come to power facing such a daunting array of economic problems - just over 11 percent unemployment, virtually no growth in Europe's largest economy - and after an election that left such a lack of clear mandate.

"This coalition will have no honeymoon," said Karl-Heinz Kamp, political and security analyst at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, which is linked to the Christian Democrats.

Indeed, exactly how it will function was unclear Monday, with the line-up of ministers still unknown. The only apparent certainty was that Edmund Stoiber, the governor of Bavaria who unsuccessfully challenged Schröder for the chancellery in 2002, will become economics minister.

Stoiber, 64, is head of the Christian Social Union and has carved a reputation for presiding over an economic boom in Bavaria. But, in his new national post, he may find himself less able to steer matters than his predecessor, for the key labor portfolio will now be separated from the Economics Ministry.

"Each side has a big stake in making this coalition work," said Kamp. "My guess is that they have two years to make a difference, to introduce reforms, to win over the public. They both know that down the road they face the electorate. They have to act fast and work together. Otherwise, both will suffer in the eyes of the voters."

Over at the Social Democrats' headquarters in Willy-Brandt-Haus in the unsalubrious but lively district of Kreuzberg, the mood was even more subdued than at the Christian Democrats - despite Schröder holding on to important portfolios for his party.

Finance, labor and health control key areas of financial and popular well-being, three in which Merkel had hoped to push through radical changes. That her party does not control these spheres - key to protecting the workers whom Social Democrats view as their core constituency - showed that she made big compromises for becoming chancellor.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 11, 2005 8:17 AM