A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

It would appear that while Gerhard Schröder's SPD has been ousted, Angela Merkel's CDU cannot fully claim victory:

Exit polls showed conservative challenger Angela Merkel's party leading in German parliamentary elections Sunday, but falling short of the majority she needs to form a center-right coalition even as voters ousted Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's government.

Still, Merkel claimed her party had received a mandate from voters to form a new coalition government, and she would talk to all parties with the exception of a small left-wing group as she tried to become Germany's first female chancellor.

"What is important now is to form a stable government for the people in Germany, and we ... quite clearly have the mandate to do that," she said.

Left Party leader Oskar Lafontaine ruled out forming an alliance with Schroeder's party, shutting out the chance of an all-left coalition.

Schroder refuses to concede and is seeking to create a new government--hoping that he can thread the coalition needle with other parties. Doubtful. At the same time, what could have been a CDU mandate and an alliance between the CDU and the Free Democrats in the creation of a new German government has gone by the wayside. As mentioned before, I have a hard time believing that Schröder won't ultimately be rewarded for having made the best of a bad situation for the SPD.

UPDATE: More from Patrick Belton. The italicized comment is funny. Cheesy, but funny.