In accepting the opposition's candidate for the next German president, Angela Merkel has suffered the bitterest defeat of her chancellorship. Her junior coalition partner, the FDP, teamed up with the two main opposition parties to push through their choice. The ignominious defeat could mark a turning point for the German chancellor.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has a particular trait that is both very human and very likeable: She is unable to keep her facial expression under control. Her features always betray her mood and what she is thinking.

At the press conference on Sunday evening where Germany's five main political parties presented Joachim Gauck as their consensus candidate for the office of German president, Merkel tried to smile bravely. But she was unable to stop herself from sporting a sour expression as she forced herself to praise the man who, less than two years ago, she had tried to prevent from becoming president with all the means at her disposal. Back then, Merkel's hand-picked candidate, Christian Wulff, succeeded in becoming president -- only to resign under a cloud last Friday following a series of scandals.

There is a good reason for Merkel's feelings of bitterness. In the search for a new German president, she has suffered a complete and utter failure. She has been forced to accept the bitterest defeat of her time in office. Gauck's candidacy was forced upon her by an alliance of three parties: the opposition center-left Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens, together with her junior coalition partner, the business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP). It could mark a turning point in her chancellorship.