The Germans who went to the polls Sunday were mostly a contented lot. Two-thirds of them felt that their prosperous country was "well" prepared for the future, according to a leading exit poll. Four out of five believed — accurately, according to all the economic statistics — that they are better off than their neighbors in Western Europe.
They were also pretty old. Germany's population of nearly 82 million, and shrinking, has a median age of 45.3 years. But since that number includes 20 million or so who are 18 and younger, the median voter is actually approaching 50.
So one way to interpret Chancellor Angela Merkel's sweeping victory is that this was what you would expect from an electorate dominated by the well-heeled and the silver-haired — people whose risk-taking years are receding into the distant past, while their years of living off a pension are fast approaching.