SOCIAL DEMOCRAT NOSE-DIVE:

An upbeat-titled article in the New York Times on Gerhard Schroeder's "hopes" actually buries the lead. The wire story, filed this evening, notes in the final paragraph:

Voters handed [Schroeder's] Social Democrats a new setback Sunday in local council elections in Schleswig-Holstein, where the party tumbled to 29 percent voter support from 42 percent. The opposition Christian Democrats won nearly 51 percent across the state, up from 39 percent five years ago.

In Kiel, the major city in Schleswig-Holstein and usually a safe bet, the SPD has lost the office of mayor and the majority on the city council. The Tagesspiegel notes a grim mood among Social Democrats in the state. SPD state legislative leader Lothar Hay is quoted as saying: "I have never experienced that kind of a defeat before."

The NYT is probably right to contextualize the defeats by focusing on Schroeder's difficulties with the economy, however. An editorial in the Tagesspiegel by Robert Birnbaum argues that the CDU is in a position to build on earlier reform plans that were unpopular with voters a few years ago, but that now are "beginning to look necessary." The programs that the CDU has on offer are: lower taxes, tougher job-seeking requirements for those receiving unemployment, limited privatization of elder care, later retirement -- or, as the position paper, "Peformance and Security," puts it, "reversal of the trend toward more early retirements," market-based reforms in the health insurance industry, law and order, limits on immigration and an emphasis on cultural integration, and a stronger German army.

If the trend of CDU success continues, I suppose Angelika Merkel could end up playing the new "iron lady" to our current day Reagan. She's certainly off to a good start.