This op-ed appeared in the New York Times on March 27, 2001

I am an American Jew, yet found myself in Vienna under attack by Jörg Haider, one of Europe's more notorious anti-Semitic politicians. I was in Vienna doing what I normally do, conducting polls and providing advice to political leaders and their campaigns - this time for the Social Democratic candidate for mayor, the incumbent, Michael Häupl. I had provided similar services for Bill Clinton and Al Gore, Tony Blair, Nelson Mandela and Ehud Barak. As a rule, I keep to the background, offering my ideas privately and far away from the TV cameras. Vienna was to be different.

Mr. Haider led the Freedom Party to prominence by attacking foreigners and Jews, expressing admiration for some of Hitler's policies and championing some populist ideas of his own. His party got 27.9 percent of the vote here in the local election in 1996.

Speaking before his party convention, Mr. Haider declared, "Häupl has a strategist called Green-berg," eliciting giggles in the room. "He specially flew him in from the East Coast." For Mr. Haider, "East Coast" means New York City and powerful Jews, the people who brought down Austrian president Kurt Waldheim and have tried to extract reparations for the Jewish victims of Nazi aggression. Mr. Haider spoke more about the foreigner, then intoned: "Dear friends, you have the choice on 25 March between spin-doctor Greenberg from the East Coast or the Vien-nese hearts." This was greeted by massive applause.

I was not alone in the line of fire; Haider had singled out Ariel Muzicant, leader of the Jewish community in Vienna, for derision. He scoffed at his given name, which is also the name of a popular washing powder. And Mr. Haider wondered mockingly how "anyone with such a name can have such dirty hands," economically summoning up the "pollution" fears and class-struggle stereotypes of 1930's anti-Semitism.

Mr. Haider's candidate in Vienna, Helene Partik-Pablé, spoke of foreigners who "won't inte-grate." "They carry on with their own lifestyle," she said. "That leads to tensions involving noise, dirt and so on." She further declared, "We need to introduce zero immigration."

My first reaction was a certain pride in being attacked by Mr. Haider. But that was bravado, on the whole. The refrain of "East Coast" was unnerving.

One Saturday, after touring the city, I went to the Naschmarkt. The air carried many inviting scents - Austrian sausages on the grill, and Chinese stir-fry, the fruity tang of olives pickling in open tubs, Turkish döner rotating on a vertical skewer. So many aromas, most of which Mr. Haider would wish away. I accidentally bumped into Mayor Häupl, who was campaigning there. A few of the TV cameras turned to film me, and I did my best to disappear without seeming to pull a trench coat across my face. I was determined to avoid becoming a TV image two weeks before the election.

The notion entered my mind of other Jews hiding, seeking anonymity, in an earlier age. But I soon realized I was in a different time. I have been given the chance - denied my relatives in Eastern Europe, decades ago - to fight. With polls and focus groups, I helped develop issues and themes to deny Mr. Haider what he thrives on, namely voters frustrated and alienated and looking for foreigners to blame. The Social Democrats made a new effort to harness social changes that many Austrians find frightening - by encouraging high- technology employment, investing more in schools and public transport and enhancing retirement security.

I also came to realize that I was not alone in Austria. Mr. Haider closed his campaign with a flurry of neighborhood rallies continuing the refrain about the "East Coast." The Social Demo-crats finished with a rally of some 2000 supporters jammed into the Museumsquartier, the Hapsburgs' former stables. Mayor Häupl concluded his last campaign address with a warning about Mr. Haider: "His attacks against the East Coast and against our consultant Greenberg, against the president of the Jewish community" make him "personally responsible" for "anti-Semitism." "This policy is against all of us," Mayor Häupl said.

On Sunday Vienna voters made their choices. Mr. Haider's Freedom Party lost almost one-third of its support, plummeting eight percentage points from the previous high. The Social Democrats made historic gains, taking up those eight points and winning an absolute majority on the city council.

I could focus on the fact that, last Sunday, one in five people in one of Europe's most tolerant and progressive cities voted for the anti-Semite. But I prefer to dwell on the fact that I had the op-portunity to help drive back one of the dark forces of our time and I did not fight alone.

Stanley B. Greenberg is chairman of Greenberg Research.

Copyright: Stan Greenberg. First appeared in the New York Times on March 26, 2001.

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