It’s all about finding a happy medium

They are two interesting and special personalities: The first Afro-American president and the first female chancellor. The most powerful man in the world and the most powerful woman in the world (at least recently).

The world is watching them, everything they do and say is high-profile. A pressure we cannot imagine lies on them. Every step has to be planned. They have to make decisions that concern a whole country.

How would you feel and present yourself if you were in this position?

Obama is the liberal, open-minded and entertaining president. Merkel is the conservative, stiff and inscrutable chancellor. Nevertheless, there is private information that is not spread all over the world. When you take a closer look, you can note that Obama was presenting himself very openly and charming during the elections 2008 to canvass voters. He could impress and convince the Americans by this special sort of election campaigning. We think that the American mentality is different from the German mentality. It is said that German voters prefer a serious election campaigning that is foucssing on the political issues. Obama was an example for Merkel because he showed her how to encourage the youth to vote. She learned from him how to present herself and tried to overcome the distance between her and the younger generation.

Of course, Obama and Merkel did not drop their pants. Obama revealed more information about his private life during the election in 2008. But when he became president he began to be more restrained. Merkel has been critized for being too distant and not really exposing which ideas she stands for. She also has been more present during the election campaigning, but all in all she doesn’t reveal a lot about herself.

Nevertheless, we should not forget that the media also plays an important role in characterizing the politicians. We are under the impression that the American press is more interested in the privacy of the politicians than the German press. It seems to us that the American population is more involved in the election campaigning and also more active, for example they donate money for their candidate. Therefore, the Americans might want to know a lot more about their candidates than the Germans.

We think that politicians should reveal some information about their private life because the voters can get to know them better. Moreover it is  an endeavor of the press to inform the population about important facts to which private issues sometimes belong, too. To sum up, the focus of the press and the candidates should nevertheless be on the political issues.

Obama and Merkel – friends or enemies?

Yesterday, Ina told us a lot about the reltionship between Obama and Merkel. Today, I want to show you how they work together these days. Actually, their relationship does not seem to be the warmest and kindliest. The German media presents their relation as difficult – it is said that they might be heading towards a crisis.

A lot of German newspapers describe the relationship between Obama and Merkel as more cold than warm and affectionate. Their political persuasions seem to be too different to make friends out of Obama and Merkel. There are various political topics where they have completely opposite opinions. For example, the depression and how it should be handled.

Friends or Enemies?

When I look at the headings of the latest online newspaper articles, it is clear to me, that Obama and Merkel have continuing differences. More than once, it is stated that they are heading towards a crisis. In front of the public they are insisting on a good cooperation – of course. But it cannnot be ignored that they are also disputing via newspapers and even via telephone.

What they definetely have in common: They are more popular in foreign countries than in their own state. In my opinion, this is an interesting fact. Maybe Angela Merkel’s online campaign for the elections 2009 was not that successful as she wanted it to. Germans seem to like appealing and charming politicians, but if someone tries to imitate another success, as Merkel maybe did, it might not always be a good idea. Merkel is not the typical person to open up to the public and behave charming and appealing. Probably, the Germans are aware of that and do not believe in her being a character as Obama is.

All in all, it seems to be a difficult endeavor for Merkel and Obama to ameliorate their political relationship because their opinions of how a president or chancellor should act are very different. I hope that they will manage to talk about their differences and keep the relations between Germany and the US cordially to guarantee a safe world policy.