Germany: Fake candidate polls well
鈥� A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.
FRANKFURT, GERMANY 鈥� Life these days isn鈥檛 easy for Angela Merkel and her social democratic challenger in the Sept. 27 elections for chancellorship, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
As the parliamentary elections near, polls reveal people feel this is one of the most boring election campaigns in memory. The Germans just don鈥檛 care about their politicians.
Except, perhaps, for one. His name is Horst Schl盲mmer and he鈥檚 hugely popular these days. Like Mr. Steinmeier and Ms. Merkel, he wants the chancellor鈥檚 job 鈥� but with his own party, which stands for 鈥淟eft, Liberal, Conservative, and a bit ecological,鈥� and a platform that includes free plastic surgery for all, voting age at 12, and a monthly wage of 2,500 euros from cradle to grave.
According to a recent poll by Stern Magazine, 18 percent of those surveyed could see themselves voting for Mr. Schl盲mmer. If only they could. But Schl盲mmer cannot be elected. He is a fictitious candidate played by one of Germany鈥檚 best-known comedians, Hape Kerkeling, in a new film that mocks this year鈥檚 campaign.
In the film, Schl盲mmer, the unhappy deputy editor of a daily paper in a depressed town, decides to run for chancellor. Perhaps more than his political platform, everything about him 鈥� his dialect, his ugly moustache, and his habit of burping in public 鈥� makes him unconventional. His campaign slogan: 鈥淵es, weekend!鈥�
Since its release in the heat of the campaign earlier this month, 鈥淚鈥檓 a candidate,鈥� has created a media buzz that鈥檚 stirring up an election discourse observers say is devoid of substance.
鈥淗orst Schl盲mmer is the right man with the right message at the right time,鈥� says Bernd G盲bler, a media specialist for the magazine Stern. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a liberating laughter at a time when people feel politicians don鈥檛 answer major questions, he鈥檚 a parody of a campaign that leaves behind a huge vacuum.鈥�
