Czech Out This Inked Politician

It’s easy to become disillusioned with politics when every candidate seems to be exactly the same; both in how they act as politicians and frankly in how they look. Sometimes it seems like the well-tailored suit is running for office and it doesn’t matter which man with gray hair you put inside of it. Voters in the Czech Republic have finally been given an alternative in Vladimir Franz – the heavily tattooed Franz could never be mistaken for “just another politician.”

Franz is a breath of fresh air to many Czech voters and he is running in a surprising third place (out of nine) in the upcoming presidential election. While the two front runners have previously held office as Prime Minister Franz is a newcomer to politics who has spent the majority of his life as a composer and painter. Instead of relying on big money donations like his opponents Franz has spent a paltry $25,000 in donations, according to the Associated Press.

Perhaps the most refreshing thing about Franz’s candidacy to this point is that the Czech people seem to have no issue whatsoever with Franz’s tattoos.

“Personally, I wouldn’t vote for him – but (the tattoos) are not a problem at all,” Tomas Pistora, a voter from Prague, told the Associated Press. “The young people prefer him because they don’t have a better choice.”

While it is incredibly unlikely that Franz will even garner enough votes to make it to the two candidate runoff election, while in third place in polls he still is only garnering 11 percent of the vote, he could play a pivotal role by supporting one of the other candidates in the runoff.

In the United States it is incredibly rare to see a politician with any tattoos, only three presidents are thought to have had tattoos and their ink was pretty well hidden, let alone one as inked as Franz. Hopefully the relative success of Franz’s campaign will show potential politicians and voters in this country that what’s on a politician’s skin doesn’t matter nearly as much as having the conviction to do the right thing for the people.