Honest!

Poor Mini-Me-Merkel-Man Armin Laschet. Nobody wants him as the post-Merkel CDU chancellor candidate. Not even Mother Merkel herself, looks like to me. Begeisterung sieht anders aus – enthusiasm looks different.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s would-be successor pledged Saturday to “fight with everything that I can” for victory in Germany’s Sept. 26 election, as the long-time leader’s center-right bloc kicked off its official campaign amid a worrying sag in its poll ratings.

Merkel joined Armin Laschet, a state governor and leader of her Christian Democratic Union party, to appeal to voters to extend the party’s long run in the chancellery. Laschet is running to succeed Merkel after her 16 years in office.