Germany's Social Democrat leader, Mr Gerhard Schroder, yesterday drafted in 150 artists and intellectuals from around the world to lend some international flair to his campaign to oust the Chancellor, Dr Helmut Kohl, at next month's election.
British actor Ben Kingsley and American cult writer William Styron were among the celebrities in Berlin for an event with the lowbrow title "Eurovisions".
"It's an attempt to break the cultural hegemony of liberal-conservative ideology," said Mr Oliver Negt, a Hanover sociologist who helped to organise the event.
The last time writers and intellectuals campaigned in a German election was during the 1970s, when Gunter Grass and others canvassed for another Social Democrat, Willy Brandt.
Mr Schroder's easy charm allows him to slip comfortably into almost any group - business leaders, trade unionists or artists. Unlike Dr Kohl, he enjoys the com pany of journalists and performs better on television than in the conference hall. As a result, he has enjoyed more sympathetic media coverage than the chancellor throughout the campaign.
Earlier in the day, Mr Schroder's shadow economics minister, Mr Jost Stollmann, promised an "economic miracle" for Germany following a Social Democratic victory. Mr Stollmann told an audience of young business people in Berlin that it was possible to combine prosperity and competitiveness with a caring, efficient welfare state.
A computer entrepreneur who is not a member of the SPD, Mr Stollmann (43) is unpopular among party activists, many of whom regard him as more sympathetic to employers than workers. He has softened his pro-business rhetoric in recent weeks and moved closer to official SPD policies on tackling unemployment and retaining a strong social welfare system.
Mr Stollmann struck an upbeat note yesterday, telling his audience that there was no reason why Germany could not repeat the post-war economic boom which made the country one of the world's leading industrial nations.
"We need to trigger a new economic miracle, but we need to be fast because we are not the only ones in the world and, with over 4 million unemployed, we have a lot of catching up to do," he said.
Mr Stollmann said Germany could become a world leader in information technology, medical research and aerospace and expressed confidence that the introduction of the euro would boost Europe's prosperity.
Opinion polls continue to predict a victory for the Social Democrats when Germany votes on September 27th, despite an improvement in support for Dr Kohl's Christian Democrats last week.
Mr Schroder's supporters credit their candidate's cross-party appeal for much of the SPD's success but the graphic artist Klaus Staeck, one of the organisers of "Eurovisions", warned that the party must not become a one-man band.
