Westerwelle in the Curio-Haus
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Friday 18 September 2009 11:34

Slick. The FDP definitely know how to do an event
like that. A bit corny at some points maybe, but
with an attention to detail that makes it look and
feel like Westerwelle is of presidential
proportions. Arrows on the Westerwelle signs in the
hood pointing in the right direction. Security that
after the event remembers what items belong to you.
Hosts giving up their seats for guests. Those
aren't things you can just slap on any event,
that's a mentality that's part of the FDP. They
want to get things right, they manage to get things
right and that is probably how they will run the
country.

A bit odd to suddenly see Rolf Salo as MC in the
classy Curio-Haus after only meeting him at some
nightly torch-lit grill-event in a dark Stadpark.
But it all fits in the democracy thing that started
modestly in Lurup.

Talking about epic. When Westerwelle enters the
room it's almost like he's wearing a boxing robe
and gloves. From the back of the room packed with
people he walks with his entourage through a narrow
corridor through the audience to the stage while
Don't Stop plays through the speakers. That totally
outclasses Scholz and Wowereit. Going for the track
Clinton already used back in 1992 wouldn't be my
choice, but apparently Westerwelle is over forty,
and it's probably the safest choice to make. And
Eye of the Tiger would be a bit over the top.

On stage Westerwelle is professional. Maybe I've
been to much into the communication thing to
appreciate it as the general audience would. I see
the product Westerwelle and not the person. But the
product is perfect, maybe with the speech written
by a team of professional writers, in clothes
picked by professional stylists on a stage styled
by professional stylists, delivered in a way made
only possible after lots of training and
experience. So what I also see is that there is a
team behind Westerwelle, which isn't always
possible if the focus is on the person. The FDP is
an organization with a clear direction, and not
like the SPD where every hotshot has his own agenda
and opinion about what coalition partner they might
be aiming for.

The almost boring thing about the FDP is that they
mostly tell me what I already know. Like what's the
point of shutting down a relatively safe German
nuclear reactor and then instead import electricity
generated by a relatively unsafe nuclear reactor
somewhere in Verweggistan? That if you're making
millions you're not eagerly awaiting what school
system the German government has in mind for your
kids. But at least they tell those things in an
efficient and entertaining way. More efficient and
entertaining than I do here anyway.

by Roland van Ipenburg
http://www.xs4all.nl/~ipenburg/blog/posts/play/2009/09/18/westerwelle-in-the-curio-haus/