German Press Says Schröder Won

Berlin's Tagesspiegel commented that the importance of the televised debate, in part due to the four journalists who asked the questions, was over-dramatized. The two "combatants," as one inquisitor stated it, were not dead on the floor in the end. Both Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and his challenger Angela Merkel made a few mistakes in the beginning, yet what was most important really wasn't what they said, but the impression they made. Both had their moments but as they missed the mark at times -- when Schröder said he loves his wife or Merkel commented that Schröder once referred to teachers as a lot of "lazy bums" -- and viewers were distracted from the real purpose. Not until the end did the debate become interesting. The chancellor was more to the point, leaving Merkel look "pale" over the issue of President Bush's US response to Katrina. Schröder may have won, but seeing as that was expected, the victory didn't look so good.

Germany's largest tabloid, Bild, tipped its hat to the two candidates: Chancellor Schröder knows that he can no longer win and thus defended his seven years in office; Merkel, the challenger, wants to reform Germany and all the polls show she will be assuming the post as German chancellor. "It was a debate of past versus future. As of Sunday evening we know this: There are not only elections on September 18, there is also a choice between two true alternatives." Bild noted that Schröder and Merkel are two notable politicians who have two very different paths planned for Germany -- the status quo to maintain societal equilibrium, or bigger reforms to prevent the country from dropping down into the third division.

Angela Merkel came over stronger than expected in the only one-one-one televised debate with Gerhard Schröder, wrote the Leipziger Volkszeitung. But to two-thirds of the German people it was obvious entering the debate that the chancellor would look better. Schröder, however, faced a tough task, since the bar was set higher for him to start with; only if his challenger had made grave mistakes, would she leave the set a loser. But Merkel stuck to central topics, like employment, budget, taxes and pensions, expressed herself competently and even made attacks on Schröder, leaving little space for him to win points. It was a familiar model: If the favorite only just barely wins, the presumed loser can feel victorious, the paper wrote.

The TV debate lacked excitement. Some murder mysteries are more thrilling than the verbal duel between Angela Merkel and Gerhard Schröder on Sunday, wrote the Südkurier from Constance. The four networks broadcasting the debate had built up the viewers' expectations so much that people thought this would decide the election. "Baloney -- we didn't find out anything new." The two stuck to their positions on the topics of the labor market, taxes and gasoline prices. The chancellor had fun, almost to the point of arrogance. On the other hand, people could tell that the debate was work for Merkel, but she rubbed Schröder's nose in the failures of his government. Whoever was expecting a clear victory for Schröder was disappointed.

Two things stuck in the minds of the editors of the Berliner Zeitung: The downfall of German television and Gerhard Schröder's declaration that he loved his wife. The duel was no duel, the daily wrote. It was even a low point in the history of German television, as four networks simultaneously broadcast the debate. Neither the candidates nor the television networks had a program. The four journalists propagated the poor show by asking questions that any "school kid could have answered for the candidates by reading the newspapers." If the weakness of German politics lies in leaders talking about how they will get the country out of its troubles without explaining the causes and without naming the goals, then this debate was a demonstration of just that.