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lenger to Chancello r Helmut
Schmidt in 1976) who had cham–
pioned Albrecht 's cause.
The Strauss victory was attributed
in no small degree to widespread dis–
sat isfaction within the conservative
coalition ranks. Kohl was often con–
sidered "faceless," though his loss in
1976 was a close one. One British
ncwspaper said the Strauss nomina–
tion was a clear case of the fai l wag–
ging the dog, since the Bava rian
CSU wing of the coalition, run by
Strauss, has only 53 deputies in the
Bonn Bundestag, compared with 200
for the CDU, which covers the rest of
the country.
But it is doubtful whether the tail
had to do too much wagging. Disen–
chantcd Christian Dcmocrats began
rallying to Strauss as soon as he
thrcw his hat into the ring, sorne five
weeks previous to the party vote. It is
obvious that they wanted a "strong-
The
PLAIN TRUTH September 1979
man" image to present to the country
instead of the weakness and disunity
that has pervadcd CDU nationa l
headquarters in Bonn in recent
years.
"One can think of Strauss as one
wishes," editorialized the Hamburg
daily
Die Welt
on July 4, "but
scarcely anyone will contradict the
thesis that, with him, the [CDU/
CSU] Union has selected its most
competent politician as federal chan–
cellor Schmidt's challenger."
But Can He Win?
The big question now, of course, is
how Bavaria's minister presídent
(governor) will fare in the big contest
next year against the popular
Schmidt.
There is no doubt that íf the elec–
tion were to be held in the very near
future, Strauss's chances would be
two-slim and none. One recent pub-
IN A LIGHTER MOMENT (photo, top
left}, Franz Josef Strauss, the chal/en·
ger, chats with West German Chancel·
for Hefmut Schmidt. In photo above,
Mr. Strauss visits with Herbert W.
Armstrong, Edftor-in·Chief of The Plain
Truth and Chancellor of Ambassador
College, whife on a trip to Pasadena,
California, in April 1970.
lic opinion poli indicated that thc
Bavarían challenger would get only
31 percent of the vote, with 58 per–
cent going to the Chancellor.
But mid-summer 1979 is not Octo–
ber 1980 (when the national elections
are scheduled to be held). Much can
happ~n
between now and then-and,
looking at world conditions, especial–
ly with regard to skyrocketing oil
prices and a declining world (and
probably by then West German)
economy, a markcd shift in Strauss's
favor will very likely occur.
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