Too close to call

Jim Geraghty previews Monday’s election in Garmany. Some notable exceptions notwithstanding, the Germans don’t have a distinguished record when it comes to selecting their leaders. But will they re-elect Chancellor Schroeder, who has presided over years of nearly non-stop economic and social decline, simply because his opponent, Angela Merkel, is “frumpy” and confines herself to vague disapproval of the U.S. instead of demonization? Geraghty believes they might — the polls find the elction too close to call. Geraghty also fears an outcome in which Schroeder feels compelled to form a government with Germany’s far-left parties.