Olaf Scholz is heading for the worst election defeat of any German chancellor, and his poor economic track record is one major reason.
If polls are correct about the drop off from Scholz’s 2021 victory — and the numbers have barely moved during the three-month campaign — then his Social Democrats will face a bigger loss than under any German leader since the Federal Republic was set up in 1949. The projected outcome of about 15% of the vote would also be the lowest for any incumbent.
A lot of his problems come down to the economy. Not since Gerhard Schroeder’s narrow defeat in 2005 has that featured so prominently in an election. Back at the turn of the century, as now, the country was labeled the “sick man of Europe.”
