Why Germans May Stick With Merkel’s Steady Hand
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Sept. 20 (Bloomberg) -- A great deal about Germany’selections this weekend can be discerned from the hand gesturesthat define the two leading candidates.
On one side, two hands are gently counterpoised againsteach other, thumbs and index fingers pressed together at thetips. This is the “Merkel rhombus,” the resting position inwhich the hands of Chancellor Angela Merkel can usually befound. Whether standing alongside world leaders at a Group of 20meeting or talking to ordinary Germans outside a supermarket,this gesture has become so famous that it appears on posters forher party, the Christian Democratic Union, without anyaccompanying text.