Esther Ouwehand appeared on television this week with quite a bit of growth and that is according to TV critic Victor Vlam not done. “It has been known for a while that these elections are happening!”
It was a gift for Pauw & De Wit: they had Party for the Animals leader Esther Ouwehand at the table this week, just after a co-founder of the party dropped a bomb. Niko Koffeman, Antoinette Hertsenberg’s husband, had canceled his membership. So there is quite a bit of rumbling within the party.
Fairness
The timing was great for Pauw & De Wit, because otherwise Ouwehand is actually an irrelevant politician, says TV critic Victor Vlam. “Esther Ouwehand is not really a good guest for a talk show. She is invited more in the context of fairness then because you can score with it,” he says in the podcast Victor Indicates TV.
“Although her party is just as big in the polls as BBB and SP, you see that they are on TV much more often and that is because those parties express a voice that is widely shared by other parties. Caroline owes many media appearances to the fact that Geert Wilders was nowhere to be seen for a while.”
Surrogate
Caroline van der Plas is small in the polls, but big in the media. “You could say she was the surrogate Wilders. In any case, she represents a broader undercurrent in society and the Party for the Animals is more of a niche party. It is an irrelevant party and that makes it less relevant for talk shows.”
Because of that ‘disastrous moment’ in her campaign, Ouwehand’s performance was now relevant after all, purely because of the good timing, Victor believes.
Outgrowth
Victor watched with interest, although one thing annoyed him. “It strikes me that Esther Ouwehand needs a color rinse, because there is a lot of growth visible. I think to myself: guys, it has been known for a while that these elections will take place.”
He concludes disapprovingly: “Then you go to the hairdresser two weeks in advance to make sure you color your hair again? It’s a small thing, but it is one thing that I think: if you are going to be on television a lot, that in itself is quite a worthwhile investment of time.”