German poll debate a draw - media

Journalists watch Schroeder, right, and Stoiber, in their first of two TV debates

BERLIN, Germany -- German media has declared Sunday's landmark television election debate between Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and conservative challenger Edmund Stoiber a draw.

Nearly eight million Germans watched Schroeder and Stoiber in the 75-minute confrontation, which German media dubbed "The Duel." The election is on September 22.

Two flash polls conducted by telephone among viewers gave the chancellor a slight edge, while a third favoured Stoiber. Most viewers said though that Stoiber fared better than they expected in the debate -- the first between two candidates to lead Germany -- against an incumbent widely viewed as the more polished campaigner.

But the conservative mass tabloid Bild, accused by Schroeder's centre-left coalition of biased reporting, failed to pick a winner and asked its readers to phone in their opinions.

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The newspaper analysed the debate like a boxing contest, reporting that Stoiber had coughed or touched his ear twice -- a sign of nervousness -- while Schroeder did so only once.

Bild counted 147 "ums" and "ers" by Stoiber, compared with 65 for the smooth-talking Schroeder. Both had an equal "Sweat Factor," perspiring lightly in the 75-minute confrontation, Bild said.

"The big television duel between Schroeder and Stoiber had only one clear winner: the German voter," Bild said in an editorial. Public interest in the debate had been so great that there was no need to worry that voter turnout would be low.

The Berliner Zeitung newspaper also declared there was no winner. "Schroeder turned in a smooth media performance, Stoiber held his ground surprisingly well," the newspaper wrote.

"What viewers saw was a factual, occasionally sterile seeming discussion between two older men, more an exchange of thoughts than of blows, virtually free of emotion. One would wish for a bit more passion in politics," the paper wrote.

"It was a draw, with a win on points in some rounds for Stoiber and in others for Schroeder," political scientist Juergen Falter said on ARD television. "Stoiber wasn't as nervous as in earlier appearances. He's clearly learned from that."

Schroeder, 58, a Social Democrat who heads a centre-left government with the Greens, has been in power since September 1998. Stoiber, 60, a Christian Democrat, is prime minister of the southern German state of Bavaria.

The chancellor has been trailing Stoiber in the polls for most of the year, but he climbed back to within one or two percentage points after his firm handling of the flooding emergency that hit Germany earlier this month.

"We have a flooding catastrophe, but we also have another catastrophe ... our exceptionally high unemployment," said Stoiber, referring to a record 10 percent rate of joblessness, unheard of in recent years in Germany.

"We are at the bottom of European economic growth. Schroeder had four years to fight unemployment and did nothing."

The conservative candidate accused Schroeder of breaking his 1998 promise to bring the number of jobless down to 3.5 million.

"I am the last one who is not disappointed about us not reducing the unemployment to 3.5 million," Schroeder said, "but the reasons for that are in the world economy and are not homemade."

Stoiber said Schroeder was to blame for a lame economy and high unemployment

Schroeder also defended his decision that to pay for the damages caused by the floods in eastern and southern Germany -- estimated in the tens of billions of dollars -- he would delay until 2004 a $6.9 billion tax cut his government had promised for 2003.

Stoiber replied: "We will not be able to go without a tax cut for the middle class."

But the chancellor said Stoiber's plan was unrealistic and would lead to higher national debt. He also stood by his decision to oppose German involvement in any U.S. attack on Iraq.

"They say they want to get rid of Saddam Hussein. They don't say that they want to apply pressure for the foreign observers to enter the country again, and that is the policy of which I said that it is wrong at this moment," Schroeder said.

Stoiber did not embrace German action against Iraq, but said it was too early to rule out any options.

"We must do everything, apply everything, apply every diplomatic, every political pressure so that the U.N. is successful that the inspectors are let into the country again and that we know exactly what weapons Saddam Hussein owns," Stoiber said.

Schroeder said he would be returned to power because people trusted him

Schroeder and Stoiber were questioned by two moderators from private television stations SAT. 1 and RTL with seven minutes reserved for each topic.

The two were given 90 seconds to answer each question, but the moderators were given the chance to ask for a better reply if they decided the answers were not satisfactory.

Analysts say the canny Schroeder only agreed to the TV duel because of his supreme confidence in his debating abilities -- and because at the time he was trailing in the opinion polls.

Schroeder's legendary on-camera charm is said to have played a pivotal role in helping him oust Chancellor Helmut Kohl four years ago.

Both Schroeder and Stoiber cancelled campaign appearances at the weekend to prepare for Sunday's prime-time bout. A second TV debate will take place on September 8.

They studied papers at home, practised sparring with stand-ins, and rested to avoid any appearance of fatigue on camera (Richard Nixon's "five o'clock shadow" was blamed by some for his U.S. presidential defeat in 1960 after the world's first televised debate between candidates to lead a nation).

Stoiber, who recently acquired a solarium to keep his face tanned because it makes him appear better on television, was tutored at his home near Munich by his media adviser Michael Spreng, former editor of Bild am Sonntag newspaper.