Let's have a look now at the mood within the party that Kurt Beck leads. Beck himself advocates extending umeployment benefits for some workers -- a measure that he says shows the party stands for social justice. But other senior SPD figures are concerned that the reforms introduced by Gerhard Schröder will be wound back -- and that fewer new jobs will be created. So there's a clash of interests there. And what about the party grass roots? SPD membership has been dwindling in recent years -- with members at local level saying they're simply not get enough attention from party big wigs in Berlin.