He can take pride in watching his party re-emerge as a force now edging ahead if opinion polls are to be believed of Helmut Kohl's ruling Christian Democrats.
Sceptics will lean toward another conclusion, wondering whether the capital boost is an effort to get ahead of a massive surge in bad debts that will emerge from the remarkable surge in credit last year.
And no matter how tough these times have been, no matter how many obstacles that may stand in our way, I promise you, North Carolina, there are better days ahead. (Applause.) We will emerge stronger than we were before.