The incumbent, Gerhard Schröder, lagged so far behind her Christian Democrats (CDU) in public opinion polls that she thought she would win a landslide victory and could therefore afford to expound the cruelties of the liberal austerity program delineated in her electoral campaign. She even announced a value-added tax increase (which her new government has, indeed, decided to implement in 2007).
一年以前，安吉拉•默克尔，德国魅力十足的现任新总理正处在其竞选战役的最后阶段。当时的在职首相施罗德在公众民意调查中是如此落后，以至于默克尔以为她会赢得一场压倒性的胜利并可以阐明自己在竞选过程中所描绘的自由化节俭计划的残酷性。她甚至宣布了提高增值税—这项计划她的新政府已经决定在2007年实施。