Unemployment is obviously the biggest problem at the moment. But I'm not sure if the new government can really affect change in that department. Germany is too dependent on the global development.
It is really a gap between the communicated state of affairs and reality. The public mood is much better than one would think it would be in the current situation.
She probably has enough steam to get into the harbor . . . but whether she will have the power to overhaul the German system is, I think, quite unlikely. Germans want some economic reforms, sure. But not Reaganomics that take away traditional strong social protections.
That can't be the goal of any of the major parties. The people would likely punish them at the ballots for not being able to overcome their inner-party conflicts and finally form a government. They're sick of it.
When he started to think that people could believe his model could become true then the campaign was weakened. People hesitated. They started to think if they would have to pay more tax than before.
Skepticism was big when Merkel started. Now the CDU is profiting from the good image of Chancellor Merkel and all that went well in the government, while the SPD suffers from all that went wrong.
A grand coalition is the likeliest option, but who will become chancellor, no one could yet predict. In the end, it might be neither Schroeder nor Merkel.
They aren't able to criticize her, that would help Schroeder. But if Merkel becomes chancellor, then she will be the candidate again in 2007, pushing back their political ambitions for several years.
Merkel has absolutely no choice but to rein in spending. She'll have zero room for maneuver if she doesn't tackle the deficit.
I think that there has been criticism directed at Schroeder from inside the party. Schroeder is doing some downgrading of the price of a grand coalition, but that doesn't mean he is completely out of the race for chancellor.