[corty]

The Greens had and squandered the oppportunity to present themselves as being fresh, unencumbered, honest, evidence-based, non-corrupt. Baerbock's resume problems and the plagiarized book sections destroyed that hope, as well as her election as a women over an obviously more qualified man (Habeck). So the Greens lost their advantage in that regard, now they are just one bad option among other bad ones with regards to political ethics.

At the same time, the CDU started to enact some Green policies like raising fuel prices, but doing so with the hint that they would look out for the economy and the little man and be more responsible than the Greens. Since the greens also include some pretty radical eco-deindustrialist people, that move made the CDU look like a better alternative while still soothing peoples' bad eco conscience.

So yes, bad PR work by the Greens, good PR work by the CDU/CSU.