Both the CDU/CSU and the SPD are now in a good position to form coalition governments, but in general the two parties have seen their influence decline. The SPD has weakened in the wake of the rise of the Greens and the Left, while the CDU/CSU's popularity has dropped because of Germany's stagnant economy and widening wealth gap. Nevertheless, the CDU/CSU is politically united. The whole party supports Merkel's re-election bid, and she also enjoys the highest approval rating among all political party leaders. In contrast, the approval rating for SPD Chairman Kurt Beck is currently the lowest, and the party has yet to decide on its candidate for chancellor in next year's federal election.

If NATO's deployment of nuclear missiles in the 1970s led to the rise of the Greens and changed Germany's political landscape, the founding of the Left in 2007-when the Party of Democratic Socialism merged with Labor and Social Justice-the Electoral Alternative-became another important factor fueling changes in Germany's party politics. Members of the Left are mostly disillusioned people in the east of Germany and those fretting at the widening wealth gap in the west of the country. The party has seats in 10 state parliaments. It also runs a coalition government in Berlin together with the SPD. The opinion poll in July put its approval rating at 13 percent, making it the third most influential party after the CDU/CSU and SPD. Despite its growing strength, other parties are reluctant to ally with the Left, although the SPD is subtly changing its stance.

Which parties will form Germany's new government a year from now? Will the grand coalition government persist? Will the new government mirror the colors of the Jamaican flag-black, green and yellow-or the red, green and yellow of traffic lights? The red, red and green configuration is not unlikely, either.