Before he returned to politics, won a national election and the first potential Chancellor in modern German history that could not win the job during the first vote in parliament, Friedrich Merz accepted an invitation for a meeting of the French strange legion in Corsica.
At the last minute, the organizers asked him to arrive at the Parade Ground not about road or rail, but by Parachute. Mr. Merz, then a company lawyer, had never jumped out of an airplane. But a fellow participant recently remembered that Mr. Merz did not hesitate. He made the jump – successful, but with a bit of a rough landing.
It is not yet clear whether the rugged landing of Mr. Merz in his bid on the chancellery is stumbling, or something else. He still seems to be the next leader of Germany, at a crucial time for the economy, safety and role in Europe of the nation.
But his inability to secure the voices he needed on Tuesday to become Chancellor, is an ominous sign for Mr. Merz, trying to argue with legislators to confront crises at home and abroad, while he is an increase in the extreme right-wing alternative to Germany or Department.
Mr. Merz is a product of the Sauerland in the Wealthy West of Germany, a region that defines his politics and persona. During his campaign he ran on the slogan “Meer Sauerland for Germany”, so that the image of the region was called up as a heart of the country.
Proponents call him an agile politician with the potential to bring the major problems that are concerned about the German public: growth, defense, immigration.
“I think he is extremely well prepared and very deep and thoughtful,” said John P. Schmitz, a deputy council of the White House under George HW Bush. Mr. Schmitz helped Mr Merz hire to work in the German offices of the Mayer Brown law firm in Chicago and jumped with Mr. Merz from the plane in Corsica around 2005.
But others say that Mr. Merz is struggling to plan more than one step forward, so that he breaks promises – and to make him vulnerable to surprise setbacks such as the mood on Tuesday.
His overviews on editions and migration have alienated many of his basic conservative voters. Mr. Merz and his party have succeeded in the polls since the elections, and the AfD has even put themselves in some surveys. Even before the loss on Tuesday, he had one of the lowest approval assessments of a German leader in modern times.
“There is this old saying:” Whatever you do, trade wisely and consider the end, “said Ruprecht Polenz, a former secretary -general of Mr. Merz’s party. “Thinking,” he added, “I don’t feel his most important power.”
Read more about Mr. Merz, his background and his approach to politics in Our profile of him.
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