PUSHING THE MILITARY'S CASE
Kramp-Karrenbauer brings no defence experience, but comes with a track record - albeit brief - of pushing the military's case. In March, she said Germany's credibility with its NATO partners was at stake unless it raised defence spending.
The post demands first class political acumen: without being seen to give in to Trump, she must press for spending hikes that the CDU's Social Democrat coalition partners want to limit - while making a better fist than von der Leyen of cleaning up the armed forces and boosting morale and military readiness.
With the defence job, she also ties herself to the binds of cabinet loyalty - while as CDU chair she must still mastermind the party's strategy for three autumn regional elections in Germany's east, in which success is crucial to her prospects.
Meanwhile, a debate among some Christian Democrats about whether Merkel should pass power to Kramp-Karrenbauer before 2021 has been fired up by bouts of shaking that the chancellor, in office since 2005, has suffered at public ceremonies in recent weeks.
However, sources in Merkel's conservative camp said neither she nor Kramp-Karrenbauer wanted to change the schedule that would see Merkel serve as chancellor until Germany's next scheduled federal elections.
