Basic HTML Version
PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, July 11, 1980
Page 26
on Euro-missiles--nuclear missiles in East and West Europe--when he went
to Moscow. Its tone was described as 'harsh.'
•iHerr Schmidt publicly described the missive [letter] as 'astonishing.'
When he got to Venice he let loose in a half-hour lecture to President
Carter at the start of their 90-minutes meeting. Afterwards the two men
made a great show of patching things up, falling back on the hoary old
technique on such occasions of claiming that the whole thing had been
got up by the Press."
lmpact on Coming Election
Many German political analysts regarded Schmidt's trip to Moscow as
largely an election gimmick. Franz-Josef Strauss called it, in so many
words, appeasement a la' Chamberlain in 1938. A bit much, perhaps, never
theless, it showed how fine a line Helmut Schmidt must walk betwe�n con
tinued loyalty to the USA and NATO and the need to preserve Ostpolitik
and the German benefits from detente.
And speaking of the October 5 election, the Daily Telegraph comments
that Schmidt "enjoys what looks like an unassailable lead in the polls."
Nevertheless, Schmidt's SOP party is taking no chances in its campaign
strategy. And, curiously enough, that strategy could backfire. A
special Reuters dispatch from Bonn, dated July 7, gives an update on the
campaign:
''Guitars, loudspeakers, a driving drum beat and raucous lyrics have be
come the latest weapons in a left-wing campaign to stop conservative
candidate Franz Josef Strauss from becoming West Germany's next chancel
lor. They are part of an arsenal of propaganda arms, including posters,
badges and bumper stickers, used by the 'stop Strauss' movement and its
musical brother, 'Rock Against the Right.'
tiThe groups portray Mr. Strauss as a dangerous rightwinger who would turn
the Federal Republic into a police state if he won October's National
elections. They have evoked a predictable response from Mr. Strauss and
his Christian Socialist (CSU) and Christian Democrat (CDU) alliance.
They say the activists are using Nazi smear tactics to defame the con
servative candidate. As if to demonstrate that music is not the exclu
sive preserve of the left, the CDU has also commissioned two records
titled 'Songs Against The Left.' The public has not rushed out to buy
either.
tiDespite posters portraying their opponent as a latter-day Hitler, a
warmonger and a strike-breaker, many supporters of the Social Democratic
(SPD) and Free Democratic (FOP) parties fear the 'Stop Strauss' cam
paigners may play right into Mr. Strauss' hands.
"'Strauss loves this sort of opposition, he thrives on it. Those "stop
Strauss" people really get his adrenalin going,' grumbled one SPD
activist in Bonn. The movement, he added, was actually arousing sympathy
for the conservative leader. 'Many people are beginning to see Strauss
as a victim of unfair and dirty tactics rather than as a reactionary with
some anti-democratic instincts,' he said.