Re: As for Shroeder, I just don't see Germany going right.
Germany's Bild goes Republican
Luke Harding in Berlin
Thursday October 28, 2004
The Guardian
There was unexpected solace yesterday for George Bush from an unlikely source: Germany.
Bild, Europe's bestselling tabloid with 4m copies a day, yesterday endorsed the president, who it said was far less "wobbly" than his Democratic rival.
The president had learned the lessons of history, the paper said, reminding Germans it was the Republican Ronald Reagan who won the cold war, suggesting Mr Bush could become another Reagan.
"Most Germans regarded Reagan as a complete fool," the column said. "It's possible that one day we could be grateful to George W as well."
The endorsement is astonishing given the level of German hostility towards Mr Bush. Chancellor Gerhard Schröder narrowly won re-election in 2002 by explicitly criticising Mr Bush's decision to invade Iraq. Ever since, relations between Washington and Berlin have been glacial.
In the run-up to next week's US poll, meanwhile, Germany's Social Democrat-Green rulers have taken a vow of silence. But few doubt that President Kerry would provoke widespread rejoicing in Berlin.
Yesterday Kai Diekmann, Bild's editor, said its support for Mr Bush "wasn't a joke". He added: "Bild doesn't always go along with received opinion. The idea was to start a debate."
guardian.co.uk |
