She's been damned good at that.

That's what I was thinking.

Most importantly, the strong right were still soundly rejected even if those AfD creeps were able to move out of the cracks into the Bundestag. They're being rejected in nation after nation.

Without them, they would have trouble making a name for themselves. The worse danger is organized crime from eastern Europe, but those people have EU passports and there isn't much anyone could do about that.

Don't forget, Merkel is conservative with a small "c." That means as in English, not as in Foxese. In English, it means, taking a cautious, thought-out approach to things, and being reluctant to make rash decisions. The same description could be applied to Barack Obama. In Foxese, "Conservative" with a capital "C" just means right-wing asshole. There is a world of difference between the two.

know what I mean?

I think she has some of the best expressions on her face when she is with trump.

The CDU/CSU parties alone don't have the required 50% of Bundestag members to vote for a 4th Merkel term. They need almost 20% of votes from other MPs.

SPD already claimed they will not enter a coalition with CDU/CSU, because they believe that the current CDU/CSU/SPD coalition is one reason why people vote for the radical AfD and Die Linke parties – the difference between center-left and center-right parties is not obvious any more, because both parties are part of the government. (The true reason, of course, is Facebook propaganda and the fact that Germans often are islamophobic, and they want someone in charge to say "we will not allow any significant number of Muslims to enter the federal republic", something like Trump's Muslim ban, which Merkel rightly refuses to do, but it helps those right-wing adversaries of democracy..)

So that leaves only 1 option for a majority coalition: CDU/CSU/FDP/Greens. FDP and Greens don't like each other.

Maybe we're out of options for a new government. I hope the CDU/CSU won't ask the AFD party for help..

She and Schulz were both asked point blank in the debate if they would accept a coalition with either Die Linken or the AfD.

Merkel answered immediately: No. Schulz went on some meaningless say-nothing diatribe, and with it buried his credibility.

http://www.dw.com/en/german-election-results-disappointing-victory-for-angela-merkel-as-cdu-sinks-nationalist-afd-surges/a-40666430

German election results: Disappointing victory for Angela Merkel as CDU sinks, nationalist AfD surges

(snip)
With all 299 constituencies reporting, Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party the CSU came out ahead in Germany's national election on Sunday, with 33 percent of the vote. Rival Social Democrats (SPD) led by Martin Schulz tumbled to a mere 20.5 percent, while the Green and Left parties remained about the same as they did in 2013, each with 8.9 and 9.2 percent, respectively.

The only real success stories of the night were for the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). After failing to make the 5-percent hurdle to enter the Bundestag last time around, the FDP managed a 10.7 percent to cement its comeback. As for the populist AfD, a remarkable showing of 12.6 percent means that Germany will have a far-right party in parliament for the first time in more than half a century.
(snip)

Strongest party ((the CDU)) may be, but the future is anything but certain. Merkel has said she does not want to lead a minority government, which leaves the only viable option a three-way coalition with the Free Democrats (FDP) and Green parties — the first three-party administration since the 1950s.

The FDP and Greens have significant ideological differences to overcome if they are to rule together with the CDU in a so-called "Jamaica" coalition. While they have a similar demographic of well-educated, high-income voters, they differ drastically in matters of environmental protection and open support of private business. On top of that, most Green voters say they prefer their traditional role as a voice of opposition, especially over ruling with the conservatives.
(snip)