People and Politics # Summer Election Campaign - Germany's Social Democrats Take up the Challenge # 07.08.2009

While German chancellor Angela Merkel is spending her summer holiday hiking in the mountains, the Social Democrats and their candidate Frank-Walter Steinmeier have grabbed the chance to launch their campaign for the upcoming parliamentary elections. Currently polling at 25%, the SPD are in a major slump. Their chancellor candidate Steinmeier is also trailing far behind Merkel in the polls.