|
|
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
|
In Germany, campaigns are just beginning for Sept. 22 parliamentary election
|
|---|
| Parent(s) |
Race
|
| Contributor | IndyGeorgia |
| Last Edited | IndyGeorgia Aug 25, 2013 02:32pm |
| Logged |
0
|
| Category | News |
| Author | Michael Birnbaum |
| Media | Newspaper - Washington Post |
| News Date | Saturday, August 17, 2013 08:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s calendar this past week looked like this: unpack from an Italian vacation, catch up with advisers and kick off a campaign with a small-town rally for an election that will be held in just five weeks.
In the United States, the 2016 campaign is well underway, with contenders jostling to give speeches in the battleground state of Iowa. But here in Germany, where regulations keep political ads largely off the airwaves, the sleepy federal election campaign fired up only last week, when parties were finally allowed to string up signs on light poles.
Merkel’s main challenger, Peer Steinbrueck, also just dusted himself off from a week-long vacation and has been barnstorming from one half-timbered town square to another. According to many local observers, however, the battle remains as lukewarm as any in memory.
German candidates typically hit the trail just a few weeks before an election, spend far less than $50 million — pocket change by Obama-Romney standards — and yet draw voter turnout that, while declining, is well above U.S. levels.
“It’s sensible to have a short campaign,” said Heiko Geue, Steinbrueck’s campaign manager, in an interview in his spartan office at the Social Democrats’ red-bedecked Berlin headquarters, where a photograph of Karl Marx still has a place of pride in a hallway. “People decide a few days or the day of the election whether they’ll vote and which party to vote for.” |
| Share |
|
|
2¢
|
|
| Article | Read Full Article |
|
| Date |
Category |
Headline |
Article |
Contributor |
|
|
