Beginning of the End

Yesterday's North Rhine/Westphalia elections may have spelled doom for German chancellor Gerhard Schröder and his Red/Green governing coalition. Not only did Schröder's Social Democrats lose a state election after having ruled there for 39 years, but the defeat also marks the last Red/Green stronghold in the country. In other words, how can Schröder run things in Berlin when not one German state is run by his coalition? The problem is glaring enough that the chancellor announced that national elections will now take place this fall and not next year. The indispensable Davids Medienkritik quotes Schröder as saying: "With the bitter election result for my party in North-Rhine/Westphalia, the foundation for the continuation of our work has been brought into question."

So is the country ready for its first woman chancellor?