Strauß ya ɗauki rashin jituwa a matsayin wurin farawa don kimanta damar fadada CSU a matakin tarayya, kamar samun jerin zaɓuɓɓuka daban-daban a cikin jihohin North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Hamburg, da Bremen. Ya yi fatan janye masu jefa ƙuri'a na dama daga FDP zuwa CSU kuma ya tafi har zuwa yin tarurruka na sirri tare da masana'antun Arewacin Rhine-Westphalia. Waɗannan yunƙurin sun haifar da rashin jin daɗi a cikin membobin membobin CDU kuma sun hana damar jam'iyyun biyu a zaɓe mai zuwa. Kohl da kansa ya yi shiru a lokacin waɗannan tashin hankali, wanda wasu suka fassara shi a matsayin rashin jagoranci, yayin da wasu kamar shugaban nan gaba Karl Carstens suka yaba masa saboda neman yarjejeniya a tsakiyar jam'iyyar.
Ministan-shugaban Rhineland-Palatinate