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'Hitler row' clouds German poll
BERLIN, Germany -- Controversy over a German minister's alleged comparison of the U.S. president's methods to those of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler are overshadowing the final day before a closely contested election in the country. Justice Minister Herta Daeubler-Gmelin denied a newspaper report she likened George W. Bush's stance on Iraq to Hitler's use of foreign policy to hide domestic woes. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder sought to defuse tensions with a conciliatory letter to the U.S. president but Bush's national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said U.S-German relations had been "poisoned." Germany's opposition conservatives, hoping to oust Schroeder from power in Sunday's election, called for Daeubler-Gmelin's resignation, but it was unclear on Saturday what impact, if any, the last-minute furore sparked by the report would have on the election. "The minister has assured me that she never made the remarks attributed to her," Schroeder said in the letter to Bush. "She has said this publicly, as well."
"I would like to assure you that no one has a place at my Cabinet table who makes a connection between the American president and a criminal," he wrote. But in Washington, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said he was not convinced by Daeubler-Gmelin's denials. "The statements made by the justice minister were outrageous and inexplicable," he said. "The president continues to view this as a troubling event." "Every day, every hour that this unbearable woman remains in office and represents Germany is damaging to Germany, very damaging," Schroeder's conservative challenger, Edmund Stoiber, told thousands of supporters at his closing campaign rally on Friday night in Berlin. CNN European Political Editor Robin Oakley said without tape recordings it was doubtful it would ever be proved conclusively whether Daeubler-Gmelin's account or the newspaper Schwaebisches Tagblatt's story was correct. He added that while Schroeder has so far supported his minister, it would be interesting to see if she keeps her job should his Social Democrats remain in power after Sunday's vote. The row is threatening to damage Schroeder just two days before a cliffhanger election as polls show him narrowly ahead of conservative challenger Edmund Stoiber. The prospect of a U.S.-led war on Iraq has already coloured the election debate. Stoiber has accused Schroeder of damaging U.S.-German relations by flatly opposing German involvement in any war. (Full story) But Schroeder's stance has been popular with voters -- turning from the prospect of certain defeat to a cliffhanger election. (Full story) With just two days left to the election, Stoiber has failed this week to turn the focus back to domestic issues like immigration and the economy, generally seen as his strength given his success in managing his wealthy home state. (Full story) Aware that Schroeder's anti-war rhetoric is proving a vote winner, Stoiber toughened his own stance on Thursday. In a television interview, he said that, if elected, he might bar U.S. forces from using their German bases if Bush decided on an attack without U.N. backing, Reuters news agency reported.
With the vote so close, the standing of smaller parties is crucial. Schroeder wants to continue his alliance with the Greens, while Stoiber, if he wins, will almost certainly renew a coalition with the tax-cutting Free Democrats (FDP). But much depends on whether the Party of Democratic Socialism, heirs to the former East German Communist Party that built the Berlin Wall, manages to get back into parliament. If it does, the two big parties could be forced into a grand coalition with each other. Schroeder's Social Democrats hold a narrow lead over the conservative CDU-CSU opposition, according to a poll by the Forsa institute released on Friday. The poll of 2,021 voters for RTL television found the SPD would win between 38.5 and 39.5 percent, down from 40 percent a week ago. The conservatives of challenger Edmund Stoiber stood on 37-38 percent compared to 38 percent a week ago. The Greens, the SPD's junior coalition partners, were projected to win 6.5-7.5 percent, compared with 7 percent last week. The Free Democrats were down slightly at 7-8 percent after polling 8 percent a week ago. The survey has a margin of error of 3 percentage points, meaning the outcome of Sunday's election is too close to call. Copyright 2002 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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