Not since the Polish-born John Paul II was elevated to the papacy in 1978 had so many Poles tuned in to a television broadcast. The occasion: the live telecast last week of a 42-minute debate between Alfred Miodowicz, head of the country's official trade-union federation, and Lech Walesa, chairman of the banned Solidarity union. Some 20 million citizens, 78% of the country's adults, watched the show.
By common agreement, Walesa won easily. He charged that opportunities for radical change exist in Poland but said, "We are not making use of them. It seems what we are doing is still salvaging the...