It will be the most tense election for a long time but whether it will also be an historic one is questionable. As the campaign heats up, optimists are being given food for thought. Debates over tax policy in the "black-yellow" camp of the CDU/CSU and their Free Democratic partners demonstrate that a prospective centre-right coalition government will have similar problems reaching agreement to the drained "red-green" alliance of the centre-left SPD and Greens.
This election is undoubtedly important. But Germans should discuss more than the colour combinations of who will come to power. As soon as that has been decided, the next question is what changes the new line-up will make. Many dissatisfied observers have maintained that things can only get better. It's something Germans are fond of saying â but it is wrong.
