Germany’s Merkel vows party will fight as polls worsen

By GEIR MOULSON
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — Outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel is vowing that her party will fight for a good result in Germany’s election next month and won’t be distracted by polls showing its support at worryingly low levels. Merkel’s Union bloc has been sagging in polls for weeks as Armin Laschet, the leader of her Christian Democratic Union party and the center-right candidate to succeed her as chancellor, so far has failed to impress voters. This week, a clutch of surveys showed it level with or even marginally behind the center-left Social Democrats, whose experienced candidate — Olaf Scholz, the vice chancellor Merkel’s coalition government — has gained in popularity as the Sept. 26 election nears. Others give it only a skimpy lead.