The opening of the traditional Kramermarkt in Oldenburg is clearly a source of joy for Stephan Weil.

A crowd of people lines the cordoned off street in a trellis.

The Prime Minister of Lower Saxony sits on the back seat of an elegant horse-drawn carriage and drives leisurely through.

Reinhard Bingener

Political correspondent for Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Bremen based in Hanover.

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From time to time, Weil reaches into his stash of creamy caramel and tosses the sweet chunks into the crowd.

The SPD politician makes sure that the sweets are distributed as evenly as possible.

However, certain wastage cannot be avoided.

After the heavy downpour that sets in shortly afterwards, a number of cream caramel are soaking wet and crushed on the asphalt in front of the barriers.

It was his most strenuous election campaign to date, Weil says on the way to the next appointment at the Diakonie debt counseling service in Bad Bederkesa.

Wherever he goes, he sees worried faces because of rising prices and uncertain energy supplies.

Because has adapted to this mood.

On one of his campaign posters, he looks so serious that you almost get scared.

"Responsibility in difficult times," it says.

And: "The country is in good hands."

Desired alliance red-green

So far, everything indicates that the Lower Saxony SPD is on the right track with this campaign, which is fully geared towards the office bonus of their top candidate.

According to the polls so far, the party is heading for an election victory and Weil's declared desire for a red-green alliance.

If things go badly on Sunday, you would have to add the FDP, but the experienced political manager will be able to do that too.

Either way, it would be the third term for the 63-year-old lawyer.

If Stephan Weil held out to the end, the state of Lower Saxony would no longer have been ruled by anyone else, including Ernst Albrecht.

What is the recipe for success of this politician, whom you quickly think you know because of his steady nature, but who never lets his cards be looked at and perfects a sphinx-like reserve?

First of all: Because can with people.

He is a polite and approachable person who enjoys socializing and listening.

“What would you do if you were Prime Minister?” he asks the debt counselor in Bad Bederkesa.

Because no appointment goes by without making two or three new, non-binding contacts in the country.

In his ten years as prime minister, the SPD politician also poached in business milieus close to the Union.

His CDU challenger and Economics Minister Bernd Althusmann has far too little to counter this.

Permanently in the election campaign

Weil has also established a permanent election campaign with his “In a word” events.

These town hall meetings also take place constantly during the legislature.

For the election campaign, the party headquarters only increases the frequency.

In the morning, the SPD politician had "Just a word" appointments in Pennigbüttel and in Nordenham, in the evening he will appear in Otterndorf, where the Elbe flows into the North Sea.

"The principle is the same as in 'Ina's Night'," explains Weil.

Citizens write their question on a beer mat, and the prime minister answers.

After all, you don't want to have any "mock discussions" like at these "politician events," says Weil.

However, the beer mats are passed over the table by moderators close to the SPD, and the citizens can only rarely ask critical questions.

But the Prime Minister finds out where the shoe pinches in the region, gets to know a few new people and can show that after almost ten years as Prime Minister, seven years as Mayor of Hanover and nine years as Treasurer of the state capital, he can go to almost every political matter is able to speak off the cuff.