BERLIN, Germany -- A furore over an alleged remark by Germany's justice minister comparing George W. Bush to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler is escalating on the last full day of campaigning before Sunday's election. Herta Daeubler-Gmelin's comments to a group of labour union members on Wednesday, allegedly saying the U.S. president was going after Saddam Hussein in order to divert attention from domestic problems, has sparked a media frenzy.
"That's a popular method. Even Hitler did that," German newspaper Schwaebisches Tagblatt quoted her as saying.
The row is threatening to damage Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder just two days before a cliffhanger election as polls show Schroeder just a shade ahead of conservative challenger Edmund Stoiber.
Newspaper editorials and opposition parties are demanding the resignation of Daeubler-Gmelin, who has denied the remarks.
Justice Ministry spokesman Thomas Weber, grilled by journalists with a doggedness last seen before the resignation of defence minister Rudolf Scharping in July, has repeatedly denied that the minister had made the comparison.
"Ms Daeubler-Gmelin talked to the U.S. ambassador on the phone this morning to clarify that the reports have no basis," he told a news conference.
An editorial in Bild, Germany's biggest-selling newspaper, states: "A cabinet member who makes such comparisons and does not apologise should be fired, if not by the chancellor, then by voters."
"This shows what Schroeder and his Social Democrats really think of our American allies," Thomas Goppel, an aide to challenger Edmund Stoiber, told the Associated Press.
Schroeder has said he doubts Daeubler-Gmelin made the remark -- but added there would be no place in his cabinet for somebody who made such a comparison.
U.S. Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations committee, said: "The German chancellor has damaged German relations with the United States in ways that cannot be easily repaired."
He added Congress should consider withdrawing U.S. forces from their bases in Germany if Schroeder wins re-election and Germany fails to join a "constructive" dialogue on Iraq.
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.
Stoiber, premier of the wealthy state of Bavaria, is due to hold a final evening rally in Berlin on Friday before heading back to his state capital to Munich on Saturday.
Schroeder is heading to Germany's industrial left-wing heartland for an evening rally in Dortmund, where Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson, who won a third term for his Social Democrats last weekend, is due to make a guest appearance.
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 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 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 seven percent last week.
The liberal Free Democrats (FDP), Stoiber's most likely potential coalition partners, were down slightly at seven to eight percent after polling eight percent a week ago.
The survey has a three percentage point margin of error, meaning the outcome of Sunday's election is too close to call.
From: WorldWidePunks.com
