conservative Republicans in the Congress paralysed by having to support, out of party loyalty, a Republican president who is not conservative."

The Democratics are also fractured. Super Tuesday's split of delegates between Hillary and Obama left the nomination hanging until the Convention, when 'super delegates' will tilt the balance, in a blizzard of under-the-table pledges and bribes in the smoke-free caucus rooms.

The fissures were exposed in yesterday's votes. Hillary won eight states – Arkansas, Arizona, California, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Obama won 13 – Alaska, Alabama, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota and Utah, where polygamists presumably rallied for Obama in honour of his father. (New Mexico is still to declare.)

Hillary won the white south in Arkansas, Tennessee and Oklahoma. She won the support of women, a commanding slice of the Hispanic vote and (in California) the Asian vote. Above all, she maintained a

decisive grip on the white over-60s.

The youth vote, long predicted but only this year materialising at the polls, is Obama's. Courtesy of Bill Clinton's outbursts in New Hampshire and South Carolina, the black vote has gone to Obama on a scale that dwarfs Jesse Jackson's triumphs in '84 and '88. So if it comes to the nomination of Hillary by super delegates, there will be a lot of alienated and angry black and youthful voters.

Presidential elections these days are really decided by swing voters, classed by the pollsters as ‘independent’. Super Tuesday showed Obama as the Democratic candidate who is more capable of winning this vote. It was independents and first-time voters who gave the Illinois senator his victories in states like Idaho.

Brace yourself for a funding scandal. The Clintons have to find money fast. Obama is out-raising Hillary by $3 to $1 and can continue doing so, since Hillary's big donors have reached their legal limits whereas Obama's legions of small contributors can go on giving him money.