European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 22, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                 Daniel Cohn Bendit formerly Danny the red is trying hard to turn Green. Fil German politicos learn it s not easy being Green by Arthur Allen the associated press it was an exemplary greens acid test the first question the Assembly of left Wing eco freaks and former East German dissidents asked their candidates for next year s european parliament. How did you get to the convention the 39 would be nominees at the convention earlier this month in Aachen were asked. Did you drive or take the train the ecological tenets of the greens party founded in 1979, have become a mainstay of German politics and members of the party hold office in four state governments. The party officially called Alliance 90-the greens since merging with former East German democracy activists this year won its biggest Victory last month in Hamburg state. Polls show it could become Germany s third strongest party after Federal elections in october but Over a weekend in which nationalism unemployment and racist violence made the news ecologically Correct Navel gazing and Battles Between pragmatic Realo and Radical fund factions dominated a greens convention. We Are More pragmatic All the time but internally the strange culture of the greens prevails said Daniel Cohn Bendit a  the greens take democracy seriously half the candidates for any legislature must be women four turkish born men were among the candidates at this month s convention grass roots debate is required on major decisions. But charismatic leadership and mass Appeal go against the Grain of greens culture. Career politicians Are frowned upon and political jobs Are rotated. A few greens like Frankfurt City treasurer Tom Koenigs have become budget slashers even though the party supports More social spending. Cohn Bendit the outspoken Counselor for immigrant affairs in Frankfurt and a famous rabble rouser known As Danny the red in the 1968 Paris student movement might seem to be an Ideal greens candidate. Rising to the podium in a Check ered flannel shirt and gym shoes his red hair Unco bed Cohn Bendit 48, told the 500 delegates he wanted to help make Europe a open Friendly continent for All races and creeds. He passed the acid test he made the three hour trip to Aachen by train. But Cohn Bendit the son of jews who emigrated to France in 1937, dismayed Many greens at an oct 9 meeting in Bonn by saying Germany had a historical responsibility to join a military Mission to Stop genocide in the Balkans. The greens Are unyielding pacifists. Cohn Bendt goes around under an old Halo from the 60s but he s become the party once United by ecological causes has added other goals. A rightist said Ludger Volmer a party spokesman in an interview. He searches for the cameras for his own profit while insulting the  while candidates condemned nato called for expanding the european Community to include Eastern Europe and Russia and discussed the inhumane transport of cattle to Italy to be made into meat the fundis were scheming against Cohn Bendit. Nevertheless he narrowly won a Slot High enough on the list to virtually ensure him a seat in the european parliament in the june election. Thank you Cohn Bendit told the delegates after the vote. I know it s difficult for both of us but the greens Are the Only party for someone like  Short subject France has become a pollsters Paradise by Euine Ganley the associated press did you know that More French men than women Dunk bread in their morning Coffee and that most of them Are die hard clunkers unabashedly doing it in Public do you care maybe not. But judging from the number of polls on almost every quirk of gallic life the French do so much so that France has become a heaven for pollsters. Nearly 1,000 National polls Are published each year in France or about three a Day the highest rate in the world French polling experts assert. That s just the tip of the iceberg since even More polls Are commissioned by private organizations that keep the results confidential. Six leading polling firms out of a dozen in All do most of the opinion sampling on topics ranging from politics to romantic preferences to spelling. Polls represent a collective introspection particular to France said Marie Antoine Paille of solid scope which compiles and analyses polls conducted Here and abroad. You can Call it narcissism. It s like a family that spends its time writing to each other to see How they re  the French feel polite according to a july poll that found 95 percent of them consider Courtesy at least a Mere important. Only 30 percent favor creating a Holiday for pets another poll concluded. Still another found that 67 percent of French men compared with 58 percent of women Dunk their buttered tar Tine in their morning Coffee and 62 percent refuse to forgo the habit in Public places. The spelling polls Are conducted nearly every year sounding out the Public on whether accents should be discarded for example. Polls Are serious business in France for polling firms which charge an average $1,785 a question for the Media which commissions most published polls and for politicians who tailor their Public lives to poll results. Jerome Sainte Marie an analyst with the Louis Harris firm in France says the stature of polls is a symptom of the decline of ideology in France where people Are turning away from traditional political parties and institutions. We have replaced the debate of ideas with introspection itself he said. When organizations and ideologies no longer play their roles there is a sort of frenetic  As the polling business blossomed it has attracted a Bevy of Well schooled political scientists who give the profession More prestige in France than Many other countries. Still there Are doubters. One prominent critic sociologist Patrick Champagne considers polls a waste of time and Money. Polls put France in a permanent referendum on everything and nothing he said. They destabilize those who should be running the country divert their energies into maintaining a High approval rating and Are an enormous financial waste he added. Champagne blames the Media for working hand in hand with polling institutes in an expensive race for scoops. Antoine Pailie said Sond scope has conducted a poll on what French journalists think of polls. Not surprisingly perhaps they like them she said. Monday nov mar 33,1993 the Stais and stapes 17