Nothing succeeds like success.
In the two week's since his resounding victory in the Lower Saxony regional election and his nomination as the SPD's challenger to Chancellor Kohl in the September federal elections, the SPD party has rallied strongly behind Gerhard Schroeder. Even the left wing of the party, which has always felt uneasy with the Lower Saxony premier's centrist approach and his leanings towards the business community, gave him a warm welcome at a recent convention. And the polls over the last two weeks, which show that the SPD's lead over the CDU is widening, signal that this is the right strategy. True, to soothe the traditional SPD supporters, the party pledges to undo some minor reforms put into place by the current government, such as the cut in sick pay, a reduction in small pensions, and the recent loosening of dismissal laws. However, party leader Lafontaine made it clear that an SPD led government would stick to the current government's budget projections after the election.