The Coalition of the (Sort of) Willing
This is a fine article, but there is more that could be said. It should be noted that the CDU/CSU and the FDP have been coalition partners before over the years, and yes, they are the preferred partners among their parties. This could have been more strongly stated and developed in the article. Also, the left parties, Die Link and the Green Parties, along with the FDP all made sizeable gains in the election and the Bundestag (all getting over 10% of the vote).
Finally, recent European elections should serve as a wake-up call to the United States as we ponder socializing our health care even further. France, Germany, and the European Parliament have moved away from Socialist parties and formed more free market capitalist governments. Although Europe is still quite Socialist, there is a trend to move in a more free market direction (the FDP's centerpiece), especially concerning what to do about socialized health care. It will be interesting to see what changes, if any, these countries make regarding reforming their burdensome health care costs. Other observers think Britain may also dump Labour and go with a more conservative/free market party in their next election.