The ballot box isn't proving kind to most European incumbents these days. But Finland is an exception. President Tarja Halonen, a Social Democrat, looks set to breeze to a second six-year term. The latest poll gives her 55% support. If that majority holds up in Sunday's first round of voting, she'll be the first president in modern Finnish history elected without a run-off.

What explains her unique appeal? Ousted incumbents in Germany and Poland and deeply unpopular ones in France might take note. When the economy is purring, so are voters. Led by the likes of Nokia, Finland made itself into a 21st-century knowledge powerhouse. The economy grew 2.9% last year, well above the euro-zone average of 1.8%. The World Economic Forum, for the third year running, ranked Finland the world's most competitive economy, a notch ahead of the U.S.

The 62-year-old politician can't take much direct credit for the good times. But she has benefited politically from this transformation of a country once heavily dependent on Soviet trade to a hi-tech player in world markets. With her down-to-earth manner and simple ways, she has won over her country's voters. In 2004, her approval rating reached 94%, nearly unbelievable in a Western democracy.

Her advisers explain her popularity in ways suited to the Social Democrats' socially conscious ideology: her sex and her fiery feminist views. The red-headed Ms. Halonen cultivates an image as a "perfect mother" and "president of all Finns." On the hustings, she vows to preserve the Finnish welfare state with its high taxes at 44.8% of GDP and speaks out loudly against globalization.

It is a model that other Nordic countries have used with some success, Sweden in particular. Global companies employing skilled workers and managers are allowed to generate the wealth necessary to support an elaborate welfare state. When Finns go to the polls Sunday, they would do well to pause as they cast their votes for Ms. Halonen and say a little prayer for the continued health of Nokia.