Issue Watch
Track global public opinion on current issues.
- 2008: Race for the White House
- 2008: The U.S. Electoral College
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- U.S. Election 2008 - The Democrats
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- U.S. Election 2008: The Primaries
- Vladimir Putin
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Angus Reid Global Monitor : Polls & Research
Germans Would Clearly Pick Merkel Over Beck
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - If people in Germany had the choice of electing their federal chancellor directly, the vast majority would vote for incumbent Angela Merkel, according to a poll by Infratest-Dimap. 68 per cent of respondents would back the leader of the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU), while 14 per cent would choose Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader Kurt Beck.
Support for Merkel in this match-up increased by two points since April, while backing for Beck fell by the same margin.
Official results from the September 2005 election to the Federal Diet gave the CDU and the Bavarian Christian-Social Party (CSU) 226 seats, with the SPD a close second with 222 legislators. Neither of the two main parties was able to assemble a coalition government with their preferred partners. In November 2005, CDU leader Merkel was sworn in as Germany’s first female head of government. The current "grand coalition" administration includes members of the CDU, CSU and SPD.
Relations between Beck’s SDP and Merkel’s CDU and affiliate CSU have been constantly tense, mainly due to disagreements on economic issues. On Apr. 28, the coalition settled on a plan to sell shares in Deutsche Bahn AG, Germany’s state-owned railway. Beck expressed satisfaction with the consensus, saying, "We [the coalition] have shown that we’re able to make decisions on major issues.’’
Polling Data
If you could directly elect the federal chancellor, who would you vote for?
|
May 2008 |
Apr. 2008 |
Mar. 2008 |
|
|
Angela Merkel (CDU) |
68% |
66% |
62% |
|
Kurt Beck (SPD) |
14% |
16% |
20% |
|
Neither / Other / Not sure |
16% |
15% |
18% |
Source: Infratest-Dimap
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,500 German voters, conducted from Apr. 28 to Apr. 30, 2008. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.