CDU Rally -- Candidate Merkel speaks

This afternoon Angela Merkel, the CDU candidate who hopes to replace Gerhardt Schroeder as German Chancellor, spoke at the Domplatz in Regensburg. Merkel, whose detractors call the "Iron Lady (a comparison to former British PM, Margaret Thatcher) and whose supporters call "Angie" was born in the old GDR (East Germany) and began her political career there as part of the democratic movement that signaled the end of the Communist regime. After reunification she was mentored by then Chancellor Helmut Kohl and has chaired the CDU since 2000.

The Domplatz was packed with her supporters and protestors opposed to her policies. In 2003, she expressed support for President Bush's Iraq war, accusing Schroeder and the SPD of anti-Americanism. She believes in free markets, decreased regulation, sees a place nuclear power, and believes Germany must move away from the old state-centered way of doing business. Merkel and her coalition partner Edmund Stoiber, leader of the CSU (with whom Merkel has a troubled relationship), have also proposed a flat tax that would, if I understand correctly, effectively raise German taxes.


Though the police and security presence was heavy, I was struck by the fact that anyone could come to hear her without the screening typical of the public events of President Bush. If Merkel is elected, she will be the first woman to govern Germany in 1000 years.