THE small branch office of Dilek Kolat, a Social Democratic (SPD) politician in Berlin’s Friedenau district, is packed with locals who have turned up for a discussion on the topic “What is social justice?” After two hours the answer is, unsurprisingly, unclear. But the crowd’s enthusiasm is undimmed. Many sense that Martin Schulz, the SPD’s candidate for chancellor, may actually defeat Angela Merkel, the Christian Democratic (CDU) incumbent, in the election on September 24th—and believe that if he does, social justice might be more than a matter for philosophical debates.
Mr Schulz’s selection as candidate in late January caused an extraordinary surge in the polls (see chart). The SPD, currently the junior partner in the coalition with Mrs Merkel’s conservative bloc, now runs neck-and-neck with it, each drawing just above 30%. If Germans could elect their chancellor directly, he would defeat Mrs Merkel 49% to 38%, according to Forschungsgruppe Wahlen, a pollster.
It is too early to tell whether this popularity is a “soap bubble” destined to pop, says Manfred Güllner of Forsa, another polling firm. As the...Continue reading
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