Schäuble for President

I have always been a fan of Wolfgang Schäuble, the deputy chairman of Germany's Christian Democratic Union. So it was with great enthusiasm that I met with him at a press breakfast last Tuesday at the Ritz-Carlton. Wheelchair-bound since a mentally deranged man shot him in 1990, Schäuble maneuvers himself into the room as easily as if he were still walking. He was kind enough to humor reporters, many of whom were fixated on Bush's visit to Europe. (One blowhard was especially annoyed at the president's obtuse manner. "When I covered the Carter-Brezhnev summit in the 1970s," he began, putting the rest of us to sleep. Another reporter lamented Bush's security detail in Mainz and how cold it all seemed.) Nevertheless, the deputy chairman was his genial self, stressing his belief in the Atlantic partnership and America's active engagement in negotiations in Iran. When one journalist tried gauging his reaction to Bush's "all options are on the table" comment, Schäuble scoffed, saying it's a real problem in Germany that this remark caused "a great nervous reaction" and, much to his chagrin, was taken "more seriously in Germany than in Tehran." (This answer clearly disappointed some of the reporters.) When asked what is the underlying problem in Chancellor Schröder's dealings with Putin, Herr Schäuble said "Schröder being the chancellor is itself the problem" and credited Bush for taking a harder stance with Russia. "A good friend [meaning the chancellor] does not close his eyes to the problems." He then went out of his way to point out "it was the United States who first recognized what was happening in the Ukraine, then Europe followed." Schäuble understood America's challenge to Europe as "Why don't you trust a little in democracy? We in Europe make so many mistakes, we really shouldn't worry about what mistakes America has made or will make." Concerning the January 30 elections in Iraq, he joked: "The turnout in Iraq was as high as in Schleswig-Holstein and the risk slightly greater." He then railed against certain Bush critics: "They say to me, 'You know, I met the president and he is actually much smarter in person.' Well of course he is! Do you think the president of the United States gets elected without being able to read and write?" The grudging silence from the reporters across the table spoke for itself.