Reuters Angela Merkel has come under fire in Europe for failing to provide leadership in the euro zone crisis, but at home she is now riding a tidal wave of popularity that would make her fellow leaders envious. Merkel always thinks backwards from the next election, a close adviser once said, adjusting policy carefully — sometimes years in advance — to put herself in the strongest possible position for eventual victory. For much of 2011 this approach seemed to backfire horribly. The leader of Europe's most powerful economy appeared out of her comfort zone as the euro zone debt crisis deepened and she was sharply criticized at home and abroad for failing to provide clear leadership. Her abrupt decision last spring to ditch support for nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster in Japan was dismissed by many Germans as a cynical ploy to win votes in a regional election her party ended up losing badly. As the year came to an end, Merkel looked damaged. Her coalition partner, the Free Democratic Party (FDP), was in meltdown and her hand-picked choice for the German presidency embroiled in scandal. But less than two months into 2012, the chancellor suddenly has hit her stride and her political positioning of last year is looking more prescient by the day. The closely-watched “Politbarometer” poll for public television station ZDF showed last week that 77 percent of Germans believe she is doing a good job. The 57-year old pastor's daughter from East Germany is once again the most popular politician in Germany, well ahead of her possible challenger in the next federal vote, Social Democrat (SPD) Peer Steinbrueck. Crucially, her strong personal ratings are pulling up those of her party, the Christian Democrats (CDU), whose support has shot up to its highest since August 2009, just before the euro zone crisis began in earnest and Merkel won her second term. Against the odds, Merkel seems to be turning the implosion of the FDP, which has seen its support tumble from 15 to 3 percent nationwide over the past two years, into a positive. Nearly half of the liberal party's backers have migrated to her conservatives, according to some estimates. By shifting on nuclear power and pushing the introduction of a minimum wage — steps that were highly controversial within her own party last year —Merkel has given herself new coalition options for 2013, when Germans go to the polls again. With their main campaign themes co-opted by Merkel, the opposition SPD and Greens are struggling for ways to differentiate themselves and watching nervously as their own poll ratings, which were strong for much of last year, erode. “The almost panicky retreat from nuclear power after Fukushima now looks like a masterly strategic move,” said Josef Joffe, editor-publisher of German weekly Die Zeit. “She has stolen a bit of thunder from the Greens, and is now blessed with a plethora of potential partners - the FDP if it recovers, the SPD and the Greens.” The nuclear about-face is not without risks for Merkel. The SPD and Greens have grown louder in criticizing her government's failure to map out a strategy for filling the gap arising from the shutdown of nuclear plants that generate close to a fourth of the country's electricity needs. Government subsidies for renewable energy are being reined in, meaning higher-polluting gas and coal will be needed to cover the shortfall, tarnishing the “Climate Chancellor “ image Merkel cultivated in her first term by sealing deals to curb climate change within the G8 and EU. The euro zone crisis could also come back to haunt her. Greece is a tinderbox with the potential to explode at any moment, setting off a chain reaction in the single currency bloc that many may blame on Merkel. Europe's largest economy has remained largely immune to the crisis so far. Unemployment is at its lowest since reunification in 1990 and GDP growth has topped 3 percent two years running. But the situation is fragile. Germany suffered a mild contraction in the last quarter of 2011, and more turbulence in the currency bloc or unexpected weakness in trading partners like the United States or China, could hit the economy and faith in the chancellor. For now however, Merkel's strategy of holding back aid until countries commit to tough austerity and resisting calls for “big bazooka” steps like jointly issued euro zone bonds favoured by the SPD, is seen by many Germans as the right course. Talk of a full-blown euro zone breakup has eased and so has criticism of Merkel's cautious “step-by-step” approach. The ZDF poll showed 69 percent of Germans approve of her handling of the crisis. Last August a survey for ARD, the other public broadcaster, showed three in four Germans had little or no faith in her crisis management. At the time, many Germans thought she had gone too far in supporting peripheral euro zone states like Greece, while others felt she had not done enough. __
