"Who will take Germany's top office?" asks the csmonitor.com

No one knows. Incumbent Chancellor Gerhard Schröder thinks his chances are good. His SPS party narrowly edged rival Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats. However, no one knows for sure. The Christian Science Monitor reports on the German election here. One thing is clear: While Germans are not happy with Schroder, they're not ready to sign on to the free market-reforms that Ms. Merkel's party advocates:

The confusion over who will take over at the helm of Europe's economic motor, has unsettled financial markets and business leaders and surprised European politicians. The German capital was abuzz Monday with the political fallout of a tight race which saw the pro-business Free Democrats claim a surprising 9.9 percent share of the vote, followed tightly by the Left Party, their polar opposites in the reform discussion. The Green Party finished a disappointing fifth.

Rumors of coalition possibilities, described using the colors assigned to Germany's parties, made the rounds rapidly as both Merkel and Schröder lay claim to the chancellery.

After seven years of rule, voters had had enough of Schröder's coalition with the Green Party, the so-called red-green government. The government's popularity has been at rock bottom after welfare, health, and labor market reforms it introduced in 2003 cut significant benefits but failed to create jobs for the more than 4.7 million out of work.

But voters also weren't ready to hand over the reins to Merkel's conservatives and Free Democrats, who were planning to strip away hiring and firing laws, reduce unemployment benefits, and push through tax cuts for wealthier Germans, all in the hope of kick-starting growth and investment.

"It's a very mixed message from the voters," says Uwe Andersen, political scientist at Ruhr University. "The majority of the population is still not ready to go through with a harder reform course. On the other hand, they know that things can't go any further with the red-green coalition government."

The Germans ambiguity over their leadership reflects the wider pattern of discontent Europeans lashing out at their elected officials. French voters humiliated French President Chirac by rejecting the European Union Constitution after he all but promised France would pass it. Holland also took a pass. Now, Germans refuse to hand Schroder the Chancellorship uncontested. Like the earlier disruptions of elite European routine, however, the German reaction reveals the hugh ambivalence that many Europeans experience. They have become a people at a loss to define their identities. While many understand that their Welfare State socialist economies can no longer support the benefits and pensions that previously pro-labor agreements had established, few want to take the necessary steps to reform these dysfunctional policies. They appear to want to have their cake and eat it, too.

Meanwhile, the largest economy in Europe sails adrift. The European reporters and pundits don't know what to expect yet. The International market is already nervous. The problems all Europe confronts, including Germany, continue to challenge all Europeans. Right now, Germans don't give any evidence their willing to face them. That doesn't stop the clock from ticking.

Captain Ed has excellent coverage of developments in Germany. Be sure to check him out for the latest.