Word: genscher
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Allensbach poll showed that the Social Democrats have rebounded from a low ebb of 31.4% last July to 36.8%. During the Hesse campaign, the S.P.D. plastered Free Democratic posters with red stickers denouncing their "Betrayal in Bonn." In recent speeches, Schmidt has heaped scorn on the Free Democrats, calling Genscher a Weinpanscher (someone who sells wine diluted with water). As he took the helm of a riverboat on the Rhine last week, Schmidt implied that he was glad to be rid of the Free Democrats. "With the F.D.P. you can count on one thing: their lack of character," he declared...
...Kohl and Genscher, however, were unprepared for two challenges that made their task more complicated and the ultimate outcome less certain. Genscher was confronted by an outburst of opposition from left-leaning elements in his party about the wisdom of breaking with the Social Democrats. And Franz Josef Strauss, leader of the Christian Social Union, the Christian Democratic Union's sister party in Bavaria, raised his thunderous voice against the notion of merging with the Free Democrats. Insisting that "a marriage without love" was not destined to endure, Strauss issued a "nonnegotiable" demand for national elections...
Strauss's call for early elections sent shivers of fear through the Free Democrats. Genscher had repeatedly stressed to Kohl that he needed time to repair the damage to his party's popularity and that a rush to new elections could prove fatal. The respected Allensbach Institute produced a snap poll last week showing that popular support for the Free Democrats had dropped to 2.3%, a precipitous decline from the 10.6% they won in the 1980 national elections. According to the West German constitution, a party must get at least 5% of the vote to be represented...
Strauss insists that he is not trying to spoil Kohl's chances. His motive, instead, is to gain as much clout as possible within the new coalition at the expense of Genscher's Free Democrats. After arriving in Bonn last week, Strauss declared: "It is high time that the F.D.P. learned moderation and modesty from its decline." With opinion polls showing that 52.7% of West German voters now support the Christian Democrats, Strauss believes the time is ripe to form a government without the F.D.P. He also has his eye on the posts of Vice Chancellor and Foreign...
Kohl, on the other hand, is anxious to keep Genscher and the F.D.P. as a counterweight to Strauss, who was defeated handily in the 1980 elections by Schmidt. Kohl knows that governing with the formidable Bavarian at his elbow would be like a dachshund's trying to control a rogue elephant. In addition, Kohl feels that the Christian Democrats need to forge a strong alliance with the F.D.P. if they hope to remain in power for more than one term. Kohl is reported to believe that the conservatives in West Germany today do not hold a "natural" majority, since...