Berlin

“A VOTE AGAINST MERKEL IS A VOTE AGAINST BUSH!” screamed the underground posters along Unter den Linden, showing the photos of Merkel on one side and Bush on the other, with the word Kriegsverbrecher (war criminal) underneath the president. This made the Green party posters seem rather innocuous. One included a fist squeezing a tomato in protest against genetically modified foods. Another display involved a blurred threesome and a message about the right to privacy. (The Green poster attracting the most attention, however, showed a baby breast-feeding. Inevitably someone always managed to stick bubble gum in just the right location.) Nevertheless, the posters against “Angie” did not bode well.

Meanwhile at the Reichstag, tourists mulled around while the networks ran their election coverage. Everyone is surrounded by walls still bearing the graffiti of Red Army soldiers who stormed the building in 1945. Inside an FDP meeting room (complete with beer, wine, and wurst), supporters gathered anxiously to await the first exit polls at 6:00 P.M. When the moment of truth arrived, you could hear a pin drop: