Super Tuesday plunges parties into civil war

Super Tuesday was planned by both parties as the coronation of a candidate, followed by six months' furious fund-raising to finance the autumn race for the presidency. Such hopes were deliciously dashed on Tuesday as chaos descended on both parties.

John McCain won his Republican primary contests largely in states which will probably vote Democratic in November - New York, Delaware, Connecticut, New Jersey and California. In 'red states' likely to vote Republican, he had to split the vote with both Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee and even when winning rarely rose above 40 per cent.

Over the last two weeks conservatives have paraded incredulity and disappointment that their party should have selected a traitor like McCain. Indeed, it's becoming clear that as the economy tilts into recession, prominent conservatives are coming to the conclusion that it might be no bad thing to

have a Democrat win the White House this year and get stuck with recession and the mess in Iraq for four years.

Ann Coulter, the Saxon Klaxon, announced last week that if McCain got the Republican nomination she would not only "vote for" Hillary, she would campaign for her, because Clinton "is more conservative than he is".

Monday saw the most ominous message from all, from the mouth the Rev James Dobson, now the single most influential voice among evangelical Christians. He damned McCain conclusively. "I am deeply disappointed the Republican Party seems poised to select a nominee who did not support a Constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage, voted for embryonic stem-cell research to kill nascent human beings, opposed tax cuts that ended the marriage penalty, has little regard for freedom of speech, organised the Gang of 14 to preserve filibusters in judicial hearings, and has a legendary temper and often uses foul and obscene language."

The dirigible of drivel himself, Rush Limbaugh, told his vast radio audience yesterday: "I would prefer not to have