A Debate About the Debate

Last weekend, German Chancellor, Gerard Schröder and Chancellor Candidate, Angela Merkel, held a televised debate. Polls show that while Schröder seemed to best Merkel during the debate, observers believe she gave a better performance than expected. Most critics concur that there were no apparent gaffes on either side, and that most likely, the debate did not really do anything to swing the election back in Schröder’s favor.

With that said, I am starting to either (1) observe a trend in lack of independent thinking on the part of Ms. Merkel, or (2) a really good job of trashing Merkel in the media is being done by Schröder operatives. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

Merkel has already had that little issue about using the Rolling Stones song Angie without getting copyright approval (see blog posting of 8/31/05 for more details). On Tuesday, she was accused of copying her closing statement in a TV debate from former US President Ronald Reagan. This time, Merkel's short speech at the end of her head-to-head duel with Chancellor Gerhard Schröder bore a striking resemblance to Reagan's statement at the end of his debate with then President Jimmy Carter in October 1980.

Here is where politics come into play. Schröder's Social Democratic Party outed the story to a German magazine that Merkel's speechwriters had copied the statement because they were convinced that it had helped swing the election in Reagan's favor. Merkel's CDU party, who have a clear lead in the polls, acknowledged that she may have borrowed something from Reagan's plea to voters. Merkel’s people say she “simply drew inspiration from it”. I might suggest a different word for it…plagiarism.

You remember the bit: Reagan encouraged his prospective voters to ask themselves a set of questions before going to the polls: "Are you better off than you were four years ago? Is it easier for you to go and buy things in the stores than it was four years ago? Is there more or less unemployment in the country than there was four years ago? And if you answer all of those questions yes, why then, I think your choice is very obvious as to whom you will vote for. If you don't agree…then I could suggest another choice that you have."

In her closing statement, Merkel asked her potential voters to engage in a strikingly similar kind of electoral soul-searching: "Is our country better off than seven years ago (when Schroeder came to power)? Is growth higher? Is unemployment lower? Do we have less bureaucracy? Are our pensions and health care better? If you can answer yes to all of these questions, then I think you have probably already decided who you will vote for. But if you have any doubt, if you do not want things to carry on as they are, then you have a choice." Yes, sounds similar to me.

Some things are the same the whole world around: death and taxes. I would also add politics to that group.