Playing it long

摘要

In politics, as many a leader has learned, a week is a long time. And in Germany these days, 24 hours seems an eternity. Before the weekend, Chancellor Gerhard Schroder was being called a comeback kid after his Social Democrats (SPD) perked up in the polls. By the start of the week, pundits said they had peaked; Angela Merkel and her opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) were rising again. Yet when you speak to Mr Schroder and Ms Merkel these days, both seem sanguine. "Opinions are increasingly based on momentary impressions and thus change ever more quickly. You can never be guaranteed that your popularity will remain high," says the chancellor, puffing on a cigar. His rival, too, is unfazed by her ratings. She seems almost to have anticipated that her lead was destined to narrow.