Final Word from Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Ten weeks ago Zdeněk Tůma's unofficial fan publication, HN, declared him to be the "clear favorite" to become Prague mayor. Today, HN devoted only one sentence to the first substantive opinion poll on the subject, which found that ODS in fact leads TOP 09 in Prague by a thin three-point margin, 28% to 25%. As we said in the Final Word in July, Tůma is indeed an attractive candidate. But it's similar to the beauty-pageant participant who is beautiful until she opens her mouth. Tůma's attractiveness was based on his tight-lipped image as the central-bank governor. The more he speaks, the less attractive he becomes. MFD rated him next-to-worst (ahead of only the Communist candidate) in a TV debate last night. Motejlek.com said that one rich potential sponsor at a fundraising event found Tůma to be "absolutely incompetent." It's probably time to start getting used to the idea of Lord Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda of ODS.[Czech Republic mayoral Hospodářské noviny MF Dnes]
Glossary of difficult words
fan publication - a newspaper or magazine devoted to promoting a certain celebrity (meant here ironically, of course);
substantive - having a firm base in reality and therefore important, meaningful or considerable;
tight-lipped - with the lips firmly closed, esp. as a sign of suppressed emotion or determined reticence/quietness;
debate - Markéta Reedová of VV was rated the highest by MFD, followed by Bohuslav Svoboda of ODS.