Assessment of the candidates for Chancellor Please indicate whether you think the following politicians would make a good chancellor: Friedrich Merz Olaf Scholz Robert Habeck Alice Weidel Good N N o o t t e e : : V V a a l l u u e e s s i i n n % % . . M M i i s s s s i i n n g g v v a a l l u u e e s s t t o o 1 1 0 0 0 0 % % : : D D o o n n ‘ ‘ t t k k n n o o w w / / N N o o d d a a t t a a S S o o u u r r c c e e : : A A R R D D ­­D D e e u u t t s s c c h h l l a a n n d d T T R R E E N N D D F F e e b b r r u u a a r r y y I I I I 2 2 0 0 2 2 5 5 . . Not good Fig. 11 ‌ Taking only the January headlines as a yardstick for the is­The missing candidate effect sues that determined the election, one might easily con­clude that the parties’ positions on refugee and asylum pol­Never before have there been so many candidates for the icy were the decisive issue. This would be wrong, however. Chancellery as in this election. And never before has the Although the issue ranks at the top of the list in public per­entire field been so unpopular in the polls. None of the ceptions of the problem(42 per cent according to Politba­candidates managed to win the hearts of the voters. On rometer Forschungsgruppe Wahlen KW7), the difficult eco­the contrary, candidates old and new gave rise to strong nomic situation outstrips it(43 per cent). When voters were reservations. This may also explain why, even shortly be­asked which issues were most important to them when fore election day, almost a third of those eligible to vote casting their vote, a completely different set of topics came were still undecided. to t A he s f s o e re s . s P m eac e e n a t nd o s f ec t u h ri e ty c (4 a 5 n p d er id ce a n t t) e a s nd fo im r p C ro h vi a ng ncellor the economic situation(44 per cent) were at the top of the Challenger Friedrich Merz leads the potential chancellor Please indicate whether you think the following politicians would make a good chancellor: agenda. Social justice followed with 39 per cent, while refu­candidates with 34 per cent. Compared with previous con­gee and asylum policy came only in fourth place, with a servative chancellor candidates, however, no one has ever significant gap, at 26 per cent. Apparently, there is a signifi­been as unpopular. Chancellor Scholz and Vice-Chancellor cant discr F e r p ie a d n ri c c y h b M et e w rz een the media-dominated agenda Habeck are not far behind, with approval ratings of 26 and and what is actually important to people. The media have 25 per cent, respectively, well below the figures from the not provided a balanced presentation of the issues in their last federal elections. Alice Weidel brings up the rear with reporting, bu O t la ra f t S h c e h r o h lz ave exacerbated the situation. This 19 per cent, which underlines not only her personal unpop­imbalance was only corrected in the TV debates, in which ularity, but also the fact that voters are now opting for the the leading candidates faced direct questions from the pub­AfD not as a protest, but out of conviction, despite the lic. Pensi R o o n b s, er h t o H u a si b n e g c , k health care and geopolitical upheav­al were the main focus of interest. It is disappointing that weak candidate. the parties were unable to break through this one-sided fo­For Olaf Scholz, the usual‘chancellor boost’ rather became cus on refu A ge li e ce a W nd ei a d s e y l lum policy in the election campaign, especially because all candidates appeared pleased not al­a weight around his neck, as in the eyes of many voters he represented the unpopular and failed‘traffic light’ coalition ways to have to answer questions on the same set of top­government. The brief but public debate about whether he ics. In these media forums, t G he oo d d ifferences between the N p o o t ­good or Defence Minister Boris Pistorius should lead the SPD litical parties on key issues, such as investment financing, into the election campaign did not help to create a unified also No s te t : o V o a d lue o s u in t % m . M o is r s e ing sh va a lu r e p s l t y o . 1 W 00% h : il D e on i ‘ n t k p no r w ev / i N o o u d s at y a ears there hav S e ou b rc e e: e A n RD c ­r D it e i u c ts is ch m la s nd t T h R a EN t D th Fe e b r r e ua w ry a II s 20 t 2 o 5 o . little to distinguish image for the party. In the surveys following the TV debate, Scholz tended to score higher than his opponents in terms the parties, the various political positions emerged much of likeability and competence, but he was unable to spur a more clearly in this election campaign. comeback like the one in 2021. According to analyses by Infratest Dimap(DeutschlandTrend February 2025), he started out with very good ratings at the beginning of the ‘traffic light’ coalition, but they declined sharply as dissat­isfaction with the coalition grew. 12 Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.