Eine Kleine Steinmeier

steinmeier040508.jpgHere’s a bit from an interesting profile of a guy we think is very bad for Russia and Europe.

Germany’s foreign minister strolls through an organic farm, buys an apple from smiling children — and then turns from the idyllic scene to call his counterpart in Norway to discuss the Georgia crisis. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a virtual unknown on the German political scene when he became its top diplomat in 2005, has emerged as the leading candidate to take on conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel in next year’s general election. But if he and his struggling Social Democrats (SPD) are to have a chance against the popular “Angie,” Steinmeier knows he will need to shed his image as a serious technocrat and show he can connect with common people.