Merkel party seeks to turn race around with TV debate

Berlin: With a week to go until election day, Germany's top parties face off in a televised debate on Sunday, with the race to succeed Angela Merkel in a dead heat.

The frontrunner by a hair, Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the Social Democrats, turned in solid if low-wattage performances in the first two of a trio of three-way debates and came out on top in viewer surveys.

Armin Laschet of Merkel's conservatives attempted unsuccessfully in both of the previous confrontations to claw back a poll lead he enjoyed until July, when a series of gaffes sent his approval ratings into free fall.

He risks leading his bloc to its worst post-war score.

Veteran Christian Democrat Wolfgang Schaeuble, speaker of the parliament, admitted the conservatives had lost momentum, creating a downward spiral for their image in the media.

"It's like when your car is stuck in sand," he told the weekly Die Zeit. "With every attempt to get out you dig yourself in deeper."