Friedrich Merz arrives as a humbled new German chancellor – but that may not be the worst way to start

There goes the cliche about German politics being stable but dull. Germany finally has a new leader, but only after a day of drama, suspense and historic twists. The conservative Friedrich Merz failed to secure a majority confirming him as chancellor in the first round of voting in the Bundestag. In eight decades of postwar Germany, this has never happened before. When Merz's cabinet was finally sworn in later on Tuesday afternoon, after a successful second round, both parties in the governing coalition - the conservative CDU/CSU and the Social Democrats (SPD) - were eager to play down the failure…