Hardly any other politician is in the headlines like this: She agrees with the opposition on the issue of the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles. She is arguing with the President of the Bundestag about the confidentiality of the Defense Committee. She provokes those who know Berthold Brecht with the election campaign slogan “Grandma Courage.” Nevertheless, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmerman is still unknown to 47 percent of Germans, according to a Forsa survey for stern. At least 53 percent of citizens know them. 34 percent know that she is an FDP politician. 29 percent can say that she is chairwoman of the Defense Committee or a defense politician. However, only five percent remember that she is her party’s top candidate for the European elections (multiple answers possible).
Anyone who knows the FDP politicians has a very positive opinion of them. This is shown by the star characteristics profile that Forsa collects at irregular intervals for top politicians. What stands out is that Strack-Zimmermann speaks understandably. 76 percent see it that way. A majority of those surveyed also appear to be competent (62 percent) and a strong leader (61 percent). 50 percent think she is trustworthy and 30 percent say she knows what makes people tick. However, only 34 percent like the sharp rhetorician.
FDP voters consistently rate Strack-Zimmermann more positively than supporters of other parties. Around 73 percent think she is competent, but only 46 percent of liberal clients think she is likeable. Incidentally, the defense politician is not particularly critical of the voters of the SPD, with whose leaders she regularly quarrels, but of the supporters of the AfD and the Sahra Wagenknecht alliance. For example, 63 percent of AfD voters think that Strack-Zimmermann speaks understandably, but only ten percent of them like her.
The data was collected by the market and opinion research institute Forsa for stern and RTL Deutschland from March 20th to 22nd, 2024. Database: 1506 respondents. Statistical margin of error: /- 3 percentage points. The basis for the characteristics profile are the 801 respondents who stated that they knew Strack-Zimmermann.
