Germany has a new darling: Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens).
Gone are the days when Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) led the list of the most popular politicians.
Since the beginning of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the corona explainer has hardly been in demand, now the war declarer Habeck is gaining sympathy.
The man who was not allowed to become his party's candidate for chancellor has taken over the communicative leadership in Germany.
This is also due to the fact that the public statements by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) remained rare and strangely empty for a long time.
Julia Loehr
Business correspondent in Berlin.
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It has always been one of Habeck's strengths to be able to speak freely and, above all, understandably.
He doesn't speak in bureaucratic garlands that other politicians get used to in the course of their professional lives, but in a way that everyone understands.
When he was asked at the meeting of energy ministers in Brussels on Monday what his message to the Russians was, his answer was very simple: "Stop the war and go home." in which Habeck recently explained why doing without energy from Russia was not so easy.
For example, because one of the most important oil refineries in Germany belongs to a Russian company and they say: "Huh, what do you actually want from us?"
Maximum pragmatism
Habeck sums up the tornness of many citizens between the desire to help Ukraine and the desire for Germany to get through this crisis as unscathed as possible.
And from this he derives a policy that, like his previous work as Green Party chairman, is characterized by maximum pragmatism.
The core of this policy is to make Germany independent of Russian energy, step by step and as quickly as possible, but not to plunge the economy and society into chaos with an immediate embargo.
This approach provides a pleasant contrast to the moralism that characterizes debates on Twitter and television talk shows.
Contrary to what some economists have insinuated, the fact that an aid program for companies has been launched following the two relief packages for citizens is not a sign of the government giving in to the power of the lobbyists.
Rather before the power of the approximately 8 million employees who work in Germany in industry and experience every day that many production processes are hardly economical in view of the sharp rise in energy prices.
The Ministry has also learned from the mistakes of the past.
The hurdles for subsidies for energy costs are significantly higher than those for Corona aid.
In other areas, however, comes too little from Habeck.
Due to his focus on energy policy, much remains that also requires political attention.
The reduction in bureaucracy promised by the traffic light coalition is currently limited to the construction of wind turbines and liquid gas terminals.
Otherwise there is little sign of it.
The Tesla factory in Grünheide, Brandenburg, was completed in record time.
But the companies that want to settle around the plant have to be patient again.
They are told that the designation of new business parks alone takes years.
Progress in Germany is limited to a few flagship projects.
It's also quiet on the subject of free trade.
The agreement that has already been negotiated between the EU and Canada is still not being ratified in Germany - which is largely due to the blocking attitude of Habeck's Greens.
Habeck immediately rejected Finance Minister Christian Lindner's (FDP) proposal to try again for an agreement with the United States.
After liquid gas terminals and longer running times for coal-fired power plants, he probably doesn't want to expect his party to make a comeback for chlorinated chicken.
The recent election campaign in North Rhine-Westphalia showed how fine the line is that Habeck is walking, when he was whistled at for arms deliveries to Ukraine and insulted as a warmonger.
The fact that former CDU leader Armin Laschet sees Habeck's style as the beginning of a new political culture in Germany doesn't make things any easier for the promised man.
In the end it may be that although the majority of citizens understand Habeck, it is then his own party that asks: Hey, what do you actually want from us?