September 3, 2011
On the campaign trail, Angela Merkel tells voters to think positively. Germany “has come through the economic crisis better than some other countries,” the chancellor says to a crowd in the market square of Schwerin, the picturesque capital of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, an eastern state. “Many have angst about the euro,” she observes. “You don’t have to. The currency is stable.”
Her supporters are not so sure. Bernd Lampe, a spectator who has belonged to Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) for 45 years, admits to “a little angst”. Bail-outs backed largely by German taxpayers have gone too far, he thinks. His feeling is widely shared. The euro crisis has replaced unemployment as voters’ top concern, says Forschungsgruppe Wahlen, a pollster. Although most are content with their own situation, just 30% expect the economy to improve, compared with more than half in June.
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