With the election just weeks away in Germany the disunited Left is running out of time to win the parliamentary majority necessary to oust Chancellor Angela Merkel. At the moment, anyway, the chief question is whether she will end up heading a redo of the current coalition with the business friendly Free Democrats or another “grand coalition” with the Social Democrats.
The latter obviously is hoping to take the top spot for itself, but it lags far behind in the polls. It has to count on the Free Democrats failing to win enough votes to stay in parliament and the environmentally centered Greens making a strong showing.
However, the Social Democrats’ candidate for Chancellor, Peer Steinbrueck, has managed to run one of the more star-crossed campaigns in recent German history. The latest incident is so fantastic that it should be offered in future courses on Christian apologetics as evidence that God exists.
The posters — printed on ecologically friendly, recyclable paper and part of a national campaign Steinbrueck personally launched on Tuesday — fell apart when heavy rain hit the states of Saarland and Hesse.
The SPD had no immediate comment. Bild quoted an SPD official saying: “The whole thing is incredibly embarrassing.”
Steinbrueck said on Tuesday he was not afraid to attack Merkel personally when he unveiled a separate set of posters mocking her, a risky tactic in a country where negative campaigning is taboo. The destroyed posters just showed SPD candidates.
Campaign posters play an extremely important role in German elections with parties blanketing the country with millions in the weeks before the election. Merkel’s party will present its poster on Sunday.
The perfect campaign poster: it dissolves in the rain. The perfect left-wing campaign poster. It dissolves in the rain before anyone has a chance to read it!
I’ll be waiting for a similar “sign” from God in America.
