Jorg Haider, Austria's populist rightwing firebrand, was left looking sheepish on Sunday after the candidate he endorsed for president slid to defeat.
What should have been a dull race for a symbolic job became a barometer of the popularity of Haider's Freedom Party after he threw his weight behind Benita Ferrero-Waldner. The Austrian foreign minister had hoped to become the country's first female president.
At one point in the campaign, Haider even presented his ally with a live pig, a symbol of good luck in German-speaking countries.
But fortune frowned on the conservative candidate on Sunday when she was trumped by Heinz Fischer, the deputy parliamentary speaker of the opposition Social Democrats.
Fischer, 65, overcame his "grey mouse" image to win 53 percent of the vote to Ferrero-Waldner's 47 percent.
Her defeat was also a blow to the government. She is a member of Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel's ruling People's Party and has been foreign minister since 2000. The government, which is is halfway through its term, is struggling to maintain its credibility after a series of unpopular reforms.
The president is the nominal head of Austria's tiny army and can sack Cabinet ministers, although these powers are rarely used. It is the chancellor who supervises the day-to-day running of the country.
The current president, Thomas Klestil, is coming to the end of his second six-year term and is prohibited by the Constitution from running for office again.
Ferrero-Waldner, 55, had cautiously favored debate on whether the time had come to reconsider the country's 49-year-policy of neutrality -- an important part of the Austrian national identity.
Fischer insisted that neutrality was non-negotiable, while at the same time pushing for an undefined "solidarity pact" with the rest of the EU that would include some kind of military support should the need arise.
Ferrero-Waldner had put herself forward as an internationally experienced leader, promising to spend most of her time selling Austria abroad.
Her failure to beat Fischer at the polls is a serious setback for Haider, who has been fighting for his own political life.
Earlier this year he promised to quit politics completely, only to reappear last month when he was narrowly voted in as governor of the southern region of Carinthia.
He has caused outrage with racist, anti-semitic and pro-Nazi remarks in the past, and a howl of protest went up from EU countries after his Freedom Party was made the junior partner in the two-party coalition government.
The presidential race had temporarily breathed new life into the flagging fortunes of the Freedom Party and put Haider firmly back on Austria's television screens.
Criss-crossing the country on the campaign trail, Ferrero-Waldner and Haider had shared the same platform on several occasions.
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