Will the Man in the Funny Hat Replace Angela Merkel?

Just the other day, Armin Laschet, the premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, stood in a cage on a podium in his native Aachen, wearing a funny hat and doing his best to be, you know, hilarious. That’s one of his roles in German politics. It was also his job that day, because he was receiving an award for levity (yes, there’s such a thing). It helped that this is Germany, where the bar for humor is low; that the atmosphere was typical of the Rhine regions, and thus jovial and boozy; and that a percussion band marked his punchlines with eardrum-bursting blasts, lest the audience miss their cues to laugh.

Could this be Germany’s next chancellor? According to one scenario, he might be, especially if there’s any basis to rumors of a possible backroom deal to clarify the country’s leadership succession.