[bakuninsbart]

1) The overall "mood" wasn't good, as we were locked in perpetual half-lockdown and other developed countries like the UK and US had a better vaccine rollout than us. - Now the country is opening up again, vaccine rollout is going well, so all is forgotten and forgiven.

2) There were multiple corruption scandals coming to light in the ruling party: In spring 2020 the halth ministry ordered overprized masks from politically well-connected entrepreneurs. In a different story, multiple backbenchers and local politicans of the conservative parties had backroom deals with the Aserbaijani dictatorship. The conservative party in Germany has often been caught in corruption, but it seems to hurt them much less than the other parties.

3) The CDU/CSU elected a candidate who doesn't inspire much confidence.

The dip of the Greens can be explained by a mix of the rollout going well now, the scandals being forgotten again, and massive (social) media campaign against the Greens, often on the basis of false information. (Actually reminds me of Hillary's emails)