Hasselhoff Ain't Runnin'

It's time for a change in Germany. Let's hope that this lady can unseat Gerhard Schroeder.

BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- Germany's conservatives have launched the main phase of their election campaign, confirming Angela Merkel as their candidate to unseat leftist Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in the September 18 poll.

But the gathering of nearly 10,000 delegates in the western state of North Rhine Westphalia on Sunday sought to steer clear of controversy.

The state -- Germany's most populous -- had been a stronghold of Schroeder's Social Democrats, but fell to the conservatives in May, prompting Schroeder to call for elections a year early.

Observers say the American-style media event underlined growing confidence that the election will see Merkel installed as Germany's first woman chancellor.

From legalized prostitution, to Germany's worst unemployment rates since the fall of the Third Reich, to a complete lack of moral leadership, to corruption in the leadup to the Iraq War, Gerhard Schroeder's had his shot. I very much hope that my Deutsch brethren unseat Schroeder and install Ms. Merkel as Germany's next chancellor.