A woman chancellor for Germany? Maybe

Andy Eckardt Producer

MAINZ, Germany - Ever since Margaret Thatcher retired as Britain's prime minister in 1990, she has been remembered as the first, and so far only, woman to lead a major European democracy.

History books might have to be updated this coming Sunday — for the first time in Germany, voters here will have the chance to choose a woman as the country's leader in national elections. 

And not only is 51-year-old Angela Merkel the first female candidate for German chancellor, but she is also a conservative politician and grew up in Germany's former communist East.

Merkel herself has repeatedly stressed that she does not want to be singled out as a representative of Germany's eastern states and says she cares for voters and their problems in all parts of the country.

But her gender — as well as her upbringing as a priest's daughter in eastern Germany, the region that feels Germany's economic woes to the greatest extent — could play an important role in the election race.

It's something she seems to be taking into account — objective observers note that the former scientist’s appearance has changed lately from a somewhat dowdy image to a more stylish look since she became the frontrunner for her conservative Christian Democratic Party.

"Never before in my political life have I been taken so seriously as woman,"  Merkel acknowledged. "And in return, I have publicly recognized my feminine identity to an unusual measure.” 

Not yet Margaret Thatcher
In the mold of American television debates, Merkel and Gerhard Schroeder, the current German chancellor, exchanged arguments in their only public head-to-head confrontation a few weeks ago.

Polls found that Schroeder, who has led a coalition between the leftist Social Democrats and Germany's Green Party for the past seven years, won the contest.

Yet Merkel, widely regarded as less media-savy, surprised many critics with her unusually aggressive performance. Many media outlets in Germany where quick to portray her as a new Margaret Thatcher. Observers, though, say that such comparisons are overdrawn.

"As far as I can judge, Angela Merkel is not like Margaret Thatcher, and she actually should not try to  be like her," Thatcher biographer Charles Moore told Germany's Die Welt newspaper on Friday.

Others say that neither her image, politics nor Germany's political structures make her situation the same as Thatcher's.

"Even if Angela Merkel wanted to copy Thatcher's radical renewal program, she would fail bitterly in Germany's political system, where federal states have a strong veto right," said professor Juergen Falter from the University of Mainz.

In addition, voters' decisions in Germany traditionally are more influenced by party programs than by individual candidates.

"Such a television debate ... is uncommon to our political system," explained German political analyst Carsten Reinemann.

As for Merkel's gender, some argue that a greater number of the 32 million eligible female voters might support Merkel than if she were a male candidate with the same policies.

"For the first time a woman is campaigning for the office of chancellor. And that is not supposed to play a role for us women?" Alice Schwarzer, Germany's leading feminist, asked in an editorial.

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