Word: lengsfeld
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...What is sexist about two women in evening gowns?' VERA LENGSFELD, German parliamentary candidate, who drew criticism for featuring cleavage-revealing photos of herself and Chancellor Angela Merkel on campaign posters...
...Lengsfeld says she bought the rights to the saucy Merkel shot but didn't ask for the Chancellor's permission before using it on the posters. "I know Mrs. Merkel, and I know that she's got a sense of humor," she tells TIME. "I'm sure she'll be amused." But some Germans aren't finding it so funny. Lengsfeld's critics - some even in her own party - accuse her of stooping too low to get votes, saying a female politician should find a better way to get her point across than flashing her plunging neckline. "We're focusing...
...Lengsfeld, a former East German dissident and single mother, shrugs off the attacks. "It's ridiculous to suggest that I'm being sexist or antifeminist," she says. "I'm a woman and I'm proud of that. I just wanted an eye-catching campaign poster to draw attention to serious election issues, like climate change. The posters are meant to be funny and ironic...
...Last week, on one day alone, Lengsfeld's election blog attracted 31,000 hits, with a lot of people leaving positive comments - proof that her racy posters meet the approval of many Berlin voters. And that only adds to the CDU's good news. Even before the posters were put up, Merkel's party was storming ahead in national opinion polls. One recent survey by the Forsa Institute showed the conservative CDU/CSU bloc with 38% of the vote, while the Social Democrats, Merkel's partners in the current grand-coalition government, are trailing with 21%. The conservatives' campaign also...
...cleavage posters? When TIME called the Chancellor's office, a spokesperson predictably declined to comment. At the CDU's national headquarters, a spokeswoman tartly said that "there was no prior consent for this issue." Party officials refuse to be drawn on the details. There's no denying, though, that Lengsfeld's womanly attributes have turned the district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg into the most exciting constituency in the German capital and made the CDU the hot topic of the day. And that must give Merkel plenty to chuckle about...