> The New York Times, August 2, 1999:
>
> >Schröder, after some hesitation, has decided to take the Social Democrats
> >sharply toward the right, but over the past few days it has become clear
> >that he has not brought all the party with him. Rather, resistance is
> >mounting.
>
> I think this article could be helpful for clarification:
> Schroederisierung oder die Zukunft der Sozialdemokratie (published in the
> April 99 issue of Sozialismus), still online at
> http://www.sozialismus.de/99.04/blair.htm
>
> It is a background analysis of Lafontaine's political defeat and the
> "Schroederization" of the SPD, which is not at all a new development.
>
This is the kind of thing that makes me wish I took German instead of French. (I've been thinking that a lot lately.)
Hinrich, could you briefly summarize this article's argument? What do you think is behind Lafontaine's demise?