Submitted by Peter Markus:
Germany: Fake candidate polls well
by Isabelle de Pommereau
September 10, 2009
Frankfurt, Germany – Life these days isn”t 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”t care about their politicians.
Except, perhaps, for one. His name is Horst Schlà¤mmer and he”s hugely popular these days. Like Mr. Steinmeier and Ms. Merkel, he wants the chancellor”s job – but with his own party, which stands for “Left, Liberal, Conservative, and a bit ecological,” 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. Schlà¤mmer. If only they could. But Schlà¤mmer cannot be elected. He is a fictitious candidate played by one of Germany”s best-known comedians, Hape Kerkeling, in a new film that mocks this year”s campaign. Continue reading “The Best Fake Candidate in Germany”