Left Right Center
That’s the view trumpeted these days in some of Europe’s more conservative circles. But forget it. Left, right, up, down–it’s all been said before. Sure, the heyday of the left may be waning, as the righties say. The tide of social democracy may be ebbing, even if only a bit. And yes, as elections draw near in half a dozen key countries, the European right is everywhere resurgent. In Germany, conservative parties have rallied around a dynamic new leader, Edmund Stoiber, who, by attacking economic policies of the ruling Social Democrats, has taken a surprising lead in political-opinion polls....