Clinton -- doomed & wagging, Japan collapses, Y2K bug, etc Message Board

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Politics : Clinton -- doomed & wagging, Japan collapses, Y2K bug, etc

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To: SOROS who wrote (494)	9/28/1998 9:15:00 AM
From: SOROS	of 1151

BONN — A huge cheer outside the headquarters of Germany's Social Democrats just seconds after six p.m. on Sunday marked the end of 16 years of frustration. The figures from the first exit poll — flashed up on a giant outdoor screen — gave thousands of long-suffering SPD supporters reason to celebrate after four successive general election defeats at the hands of Helmut Kohl. The estimate of big losses for Kohl's Christian Democrats was met with a huge whoop by the SPD supporters who had gathered for a post-election party outside the Bonn building. An even larger cheer and a spontaneous round of applause greeted the SPD's score as it was immediately clear the party had won a clear victory, winning more votes than the Christian Democrats for only the second tine in its postwar history. "I'm really happy the CDU has done so badly," declared Maren Weege, an 18-year-old first-time voter too young to remember when the party last held power in 1982. Other supporters expressed their feelings in their own way. One wore a papier-mache mask of Kohl in the shape of a pear, the outgoing chancellor's nickname. "Looking for work!" read a banner next to the mask. The appearances of Kohl and his team on the screen were greeted with scorn and sarcasm. "Loser! Loser!" chanted the crowd as Kohl gave his first reaction. The chancellor's campaign manager Peter Hintze was greeted with cries of "Auf Wiedersehen!" "After 16 years, I'm just completely happy," declared Dietmar Buse, a middle-aged SPD supporter supping a glass of beer. The party had laid on 5,000 litres of Germany's favourite drink to make sure the celebrations went with a swing. A giant tent filled with snacks and refreshments had been erected in the street outside the party building, just a short walk down the road from the chancellery where the SPD victor, Gerhard Schroeder, will take up residence. The only factor troubling some of the crowd was the performance of the ecologist Greens, whom many SPD supporters would prefer as coalition partners. Their combined score meant it was still uncertain whether the Red-Green alliance would have enough of a majority to form a stable coalition. But any reservations were forgotten when Schroeder stepped onto a small open-air stage next to the big screen. "Ger-hard! Ger-hard!" the crowd of around 2,000 yelled as Schroeder and party chairman Oskar Lafontaine appeared. Schroeder's first words said it all. "After 16 years, the era of Helmut Kohl has ended today," he told his supporters. For years, SPD activists have chanted the same slogan: "Kohl must go." Now they could amend the words. "Kohl has gone!" they yelled in delight.

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