Germany: Merkel bloc opening election campaign amid poll sag

Outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right bloc is kicking off its official campaign for Germany’s Sept. 26 election amid a worrying sag in poll ratings

BERLIN -- Outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right bloc is kicking off its official campaign for Germany's Sept. 26 election amid a worrying sag in poll ratings and increasing criticism of Merkel's would-be successor, Armin Laschet. Laschet is set to speak at a Saturday rally along with Merkel, who has largely stayed out of the campaign so far. The rally in Berlin comes as recent polls have shown support for the Union bloc slipping as low as 23% — leaving it only a few points ahead of the center-left Social Democrats and the environmentalist Greens. The polls also have shown dismal personal popularity ratings for Laschet, the governor of Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia state and the leader of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union party, even as Social Democratic rival Olaf Scholz — the vice chancellor in Merkel's coalition government — has gained ground. Merkel, who has led Germany since 2005, announced in 2018 that she wouldn’t seek a fifth term as chancellor. The Union took 32.9% of the vote in the last election, in 2017. In its best result under Merkel, in 2013, the bloc won 41.5%.