The smartly-dressed investment bankers and industrialists who crowded into Berlin's luxurious Hotel Adlon last week came ostensibly to discuss Germany's economic challenges in the light of a changing Europe. But most were less interested in the predictions of a distinguished panel of experts than in catching a glimpse of Mr Gerhard Schroeder, the Social Democrat (SPD) Prime Minister of Lower Saxony - and the man most Germans expect to be their next chancellor.
For a life-long Social Democrat who grew up in poverty and left school at 14, Mr Schroeder is remarkably at ease among the business elite. And, as opinion polls point inexorably towards a Schroeder victory in September's federal election, Germany's plutocrats and financiers are swallowing their traditional distaste for the left as they ingratiate themselves with the SPD leadership.
Last week's conference, organised by Flemings, the British securities house, was dominated by calls for Germany and Europe to embrace American-style capitalism as the only way to compete in a global market. But Mr Schroeder outlined a very different vision of the European future under social democratic leadership.
"A conservative Europe is one which thinks of itself, above all, as an ever-expanding market. But the social democratic Europe, without dismissing the importance of economic factors, must also be a place for social and cultural interaction," he said.
Addressing the lack of popular confidence in EU institutions, Mr Schroeder said that European integration was originally intended as a bulwark against the return of fascism and war. But the memory of the second World War was now so remote that Europe needed a new political identity.
"This shared Europe could be based on building a society in which the greatest possible number of people have a say in decision-making," he said.
Much of what Mr Schroeder has been saying on the campaign trail is similarly uplifting, uncontroversial and insubstantial. At the SPD campaign headquarters, known as Kampa, image and atmosphere take precedence over policy as the party attempts to capitalise on the popular mood favouring a change.
The Chancellor, Dr Helmut Kohl, has been written off already by many commentators and even by some of his own colleagues. But Dr Kohl is a formidably successful campaigner with a remarkable gift for gauging public opinion and an unrivalled capacity for political ruthlessness.
Germany's poor performance in the World Cup and a cold, rainy summer have hindered the chancellor's attempts to persuade voters that Germany is emerging from recession into a cheerful, new era of prosperity. But there is growing speculation within political circles that Dr Kohl's Christian Democrats may be about to launch a dirty tricks campaign linking senior opposition figures with the former East German intelligence service, the Stasi.
The chancellor's best hope for survival may lie with the poor performance of the Greens, Mr Schroeder's preferred coalition partners. Support for the environmentalist party has fallen dramatically in recent weeks, partly because of unpopular policies advocating a sharp rise in the price of petrol and the introduction of a speed limit on the autobahn.
Private polls by the SPD put support for the Greens at just 3 per cent, two points short of the 5 per cent needed to win seats in parliament. If the Greens lose all their seats and Dr Kohl's coalition partners in the Free Democrats (FDP) scrape back into the Bundestag, the chancellor could win a surprise victory.
Much smart money is now being placed on a grand coalition of Social Democrats and Christian Democrats, with Mr Schroeder as chancellor. Although political analysts warn that the main beneficiaries of such coalitions are extremists on the left and the right, many Germans would like to see their politicians working together to solve the country's problems.
As he smiled and charmed his way through the throng of bankers in Berlin, pausing to share a joke with two stray trade unionists, Mr Schroeder appeared indifferent to the shape of Germany's next government - as long as he is in charge of it.