It was fiesta in downtown Denver last night. Thousands stood on the streets, and huddled in bars; children sat on parents' shoulders, teenagers milled around in groups next to elderly relatives in wheelchairs. There was noise, dancing, street food and beer.

But at 8 pm local time the hubbub dissipated...

The First Lady in the USA is a position of peculiar significance. Among the major Western countries, the only remote equivalent can be found in France with its Première Dame. One need only glance at the lyrics on the delectable Madame Carla Bruni Sarkozy's recent pop album to know that...

"It's Hillary, man. That's the dream ticket!." This was the view of Tony, an ex-infantryman living on the streets of Chicago; he liked McCain ("as a veteran"), but had grudgingly settled on Obama. "If he chooses Hillary as vice-president, he'll win." Later, an American-Kenyan taxi driver (a man, charmingly, oblivious...

Brits love the circus of American Christianity. Polygamist sects, TV evangelicals, a gay Anglican bishop: US faith is several categories more fun than the hymns and tea image of church in the Old Country.

A principal source of bemusement for us is the influence here of faith in politics....