Word: schmidts
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...personality contest between two competent, but certainly not dazzling, politicians who scarcely differ in their approach to key issues. Most Western and Japanese political leaders are softly cheering for Ford. His main attraction: being a known quantity, v. the relatively unknown Jimmy Carter. West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt makes it a point to note privately that Ford has "grown" into the presidency and is much more intelligent and decisive than is popularly thought. But the West Germans also regard Carter as a highly competent, tough and intelligent politician, and are pleased that he has tempered his earlier cries for cuts...
...down on terrorists, pursue detente with East Germany on more of a quid pro quo basis, continue close ties with the U.S., and lobby in other West European capitals for a stronger NATO. Their only substantive difference was over the issue of corporate-tax cuts, which Kohl favored and Schmidt dismissed as "unrealistic and impossible...
With the candidates' platforms so similar, the election seemed to turn on matters of personal style. To offset Schmidt's palpable aura of authority, efficiency and intellect, Kohl cultivated a folksy, old-fashioned image. Implying that it was time to leave postwar apologetics behind, Kohl encouraged his audiences to take pride again in the traditional German virtues of "cleanliness, punctuality, dependability, savings and hard work." He talked of "the fatherland" and occasionally led campaign rallies in singing the West German national anthem, Deutschlandlied. Said Kohl: "We don't want nationalism, but we're entitled...
That appeal-and the repeated charge that the S.D.P. was "soft on Communism"-went over well among middle-class voters. They feel threatened by the young leftists who have taken over the Social Democrats' party machinery in a few major cities. Although Schmidt embodies the old virtues as well as anyone, he had to bear the banner for a party that acquired a largely undeserved left-leaning reputation under former Chancellor Willy Brandt. Since West German voters elect their Chancellor by voting for a party, rather than directly for an individual candidate, that bogus image may have cost Schmidt...
...they awaited the results, both candidates faced one certainty. Whoever won would have a formidable opposition leader to contend with. Indeed, with the likelihood of a reduced margin of seats in the Bundestag dividing winner and loser, it seemed possible that neither Kohl nor Schmidt would be able to stay in power for a full four-year term...