Angela Merkel is currently midway through her pre-election tour before Germany goes to the polls on September 24.
But she has faced a tough time on the campaign trail, being repeatedly booed as groups of anti-immigration or right-wing protesters gatecrashed several of her rallying speeches
Ms Merkel has faced an even tougher opposition from SPD rival Martin Schulz – who recently launched personal attacks on the German Chancellor.
The former European Parliament president has said Mrs Merkel was “disconnected from reality” and “aloof”, along with also attacked her for failing to confront Donald Trump.
But his tactics appear to have backfired with Austrian newspaper Der Standard lashing out at the candidate in a scathing editorial.
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The comment piece read: “The SPD makes you want to tear your hair out. Another four weeks till the German Bundestag election, and the Union is about 15 percentage points ahead of the German Social Democrats.
“But what Schulz offered during the TV debate during the weekend is not the content criticism which should be self-evident in a democracy and is also appreciated because it points out wrongs.
“Instead, Schulz is now attacking Merkel personally. He accuses her of being disconnected from reality and aloof.
“That smells of despair. Merkel is not as chummy as Schulz and she doesn’t have to be, she is a completely different type of person.”
The editorial said while Mr Schulz accuses Ms Merkel of being out of touch and disconnected, her personal approval ratings are also significantly higher than his.
And the article added: “With such actions, the SPD chancellor’s candidate does not harm the one he actually wants to defeat – but rather himself. “
Political adviser Michael Spreng also claims the aggressive tactics could backfire to hurt Mr Schulz’s election chances rather than bolster them.
But speaking to FOCUS Online, he said he was not surprised by the personal attacks.
He said: “It is an old experience from election campaigns that candidates go over to personal attacks when the debate does not take effect.
“I think Schulz’s behaviour is an act of despair. He simply can not think of anything else in the election campaign.”
Volker Wieland, member of the German Council of Economic Experts, added: “I understand he needs to get more attention on the campaign but I don’t think that’s going to be the road to success.”
(Additional reporting by Monika Pallenberg)