Leg-Gate

Germany's liberal party, the Free Democrats (FDP), held its annual party congress as usual at Epiphany (Dreikönigstreffen) in Stuttgart. The congress opened in a somewhat depressed mood because the party got less than 5% of the votes in all recent state elections. That means the FDP is no longer represented in those parliaments.

©FDP

When posters with Keine Sau braucht die FDP (No hog needs the FDP) appeared last fall during the electoral campaign in the State of Brandenburg, party officials covered the words with magenta-colored stickers: Jeder Brandenburger braucht die FDP. It did not help. On the evening of the September 14, 2014 election, the Free Democrats earned a meager 1.5% of the vote.

The following state elections will take place in Hamburg on February 15. At the Dreikönigstreffen, young party chairman Christian Lindner (38) aligned the delegates with the FDP's liberal core values, impressing them with a one-hour free speech. At the same time, Lindner officially introduced a new party color: magenta.

New FDP logo (©FDP)

Among the party delegates present in Stuttgart was Katja Suding. She is chairwoman of the Free Democratic parliamentary group in the Hamburg state parliament and is an FDP hopeful for the February elections.

Chairwoman Katja Suding (©ARD)

Will our "Man" for Hamburg turn the tide and harvest more than the FDP's necessary 5% of the vote?

Our Man (?) for Hamburg (©FDP)

Some readers of my blogs will remember FDP Brüderle's dirndl-gate. The follow-up in Stuttgart was a leg-gate when German television made a pan shot of Katja's legs.

Leg-gate (©ARD)

In a first reaction, Katja called the cut sexist. The director of the news department offered excuses and went a step further, calling the cut an Altherren-Schwenk (Dirty old men pan). He continued: This proves we need more camera-women than cameramen. Katja accepted the excuses, well recognizing the odd publicity for herself and her party.

**