TIME AND again the ambitions of Friedrich Merz to attain Germany’s top political job have been thwarted by events, by rivals—or by himself. Yet at last the chancellery looks within the grasp of the 68-year-old leader of Germany’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). On September 17th Mr Merz secured the backing of Markus Söder, the ambitious leader of the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), for that job. The sister conservative parties agree on a joint chancellor-candidate at federal elections, an unusual process that has not always run smoothly. For Mr Merz’s supporters, Mr Söder’s quiet surrender one whole year before Germans go to the polls speaks to the evolution of their man’s political skills.