But anybody expecting a rousing entry into the ring will be disappointed. Buoyed by consistently strong polling, Merkel’s pitch to voters is simple: Things are going quite well, and I will make sure it stays that way. [...]
“Through gradual steps, sound decisions, sometimes difficult decisions … we have created a framework in which people can once again seize opportunities,” Merkel said, referring to the decline in unemployment since its peak near the beginning of her first term in the mid-2000s. She also reiterated her party’s pledge to reach full employment by 2025, which would entail reducing unemployment by roughly 2.5 percentage points.
Merkel also pledged to embrace technological innovation while protecting those most vulnerable in an increasingly automated and digitized economy. She rejected accusations, levied by her Social Democratic challenger Martin Schulz, that her government was not using overflowing state coffers to sufficiently invest in infrastructure and education.
The latest polling puts Merkel’s conservatives at 40 percent, 16 points ahead of Schulz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), the junior government partner during two of Merkel’s three terms as chancellor, including over the past four years. Over the next six weeks, the campaign will take her to 50 German cities — from Passau on the southern border with Austria to the northern seaside town of Cuxhaven, before she finishes off in Munich two days before the September 24 election.
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