Kohl Power

HELMUT Kohl today is where FDR would have been had he lived until 1948: in the last year of his fourth term. No other democratic leader has ever served continuously for 16 years. And if the 68-year-old Kohl wins on September 27, he might even wind up besting Otto von Bismarck, who ran the Second Reich for 19 years.

However, Kohl does not have a Kaiser behind him, and right now he looks as likely to win as Jesse Helms would if he were running against Ted Kennedy in Massachusetts. Kohl trails his Social Democratic opponent, Gerhard Schröder, by up to 20 points, and his Christian Democrats are morosely waiting for that miracle which, in past years, has always come along in late summer to turn the Left’s dreams into dust. Four years ago, the Social Democratic contender, Rudolf Scharping, started out with a 15-point advantage in the spring only to see Kohl dash past him in the fall. But so far, Schröder’s lead is refusing to melt away.

JJ

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Josef Joffe

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HELMUT Kohl today is where FDR would have been had he lived until 1948: in the last year of his fourth term. No other democratic leader has ever served continuously for 16 years. And if the 68-year-old Kohl wins on September 27, he might even wind up besting Otto von Bismarck, who ran the Second Reich for 19 years.

However, Kohl does not have a Kaiser behind him, and right now he looks as likely to win as Jesse Helms would if he were running against Ted Kennedy in Massachusetts. Kohl trails his Social Democratic opponent, Gerhard Schröder, by up to 20 points, and his Christian Democrats are morosely waiting for that miracle which, in past years, has always come along in late summer to turn the Left’s dreams into dust. Four years ago, the Social Democratic contender, Rudolf Scharping, started out with a 15-point advantage in the spring only to see Kohl dash past him in the fall. But so far, Schröder’s lead is refusing to melt away.