There May Be No Alternative to Merkel, After All

Though roller-coaster elections have recently become the norm in established democracies (witness France's whirlwind campaign that ended last night), Germany appears determined to be an exception. As her party clinched yet another key regional election, Chancellor Angela Merkel is close to establishing her dominance in the September general election well ahead of time.

Former European Parliament President Martin Schulz created a hint of an intrigue in January when he decided to run against Merkel as the top candidate of SPD, the Social Democratic Party that is now the junior coalition partner of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU). It seemed briefly that someone of his caliber, conviction and campaigning skill could present a credible alternative; the SPD even topped the CDU in some polls, prompting editorials wondering if Germans were tired of Merkel and the chancellor herself was tired of campaigning -- this is, after all, her fourth run as her party's lead candidate. Thanks to the "Schulz effect," the SPD elected him its leader with an unprecedented 100 percent of the vote, bestowing on him the nickname "100 percent Schulz."