years ago. His caddish behaviour to the first Mrs McCain when he dumped her for the younger and very rich beer heiress Cindy Hensley was given a thorough workout last week by the Los Angeles Times, which reported that Nancy Reagan has never forgiven McCain for his foul conduct, hence her tepid endorsement of him. But since many Americans are divorced and stand accused by the betrayed partner as utter swine, McCain's not going to face too much trouble on this front.

Stories swirl around McCain's famously terrible temper and whether this has led to physical abuse of Cindy, prompting her to seek solace from gentler hands. But nothing credible by way of hard detail has surfaced thus far. Her majestic credit card debt - as much as half-a-million owed to American Express - excites only envy.

McCain's conduct as a PoW in North Vietnam has prompted fairly detailed accusations that he collaborated with his captors and gave them significant details of US Navy flight plans. But these have not yet

displayed any traction that might dent his 'war hero' status. Efforts by the New York Times some months ago to link him to the attractive young lobbyist Vicki Iseman (left) also failed to stick.

Obama has weathered efforts to tie him to the Chicago real estate tycoon Tony Rezko, now convicted by a federal jury in Chicago on counts of fraud. Sillier attempts to turn Obama into a fan of the Weather Underground - a violent Sixties anti-war group - have failed. His married life with Michelle seems beyond reproach. His career in the Illinois legislature and then the US senate have not produced charges of direct corruption, though he has been a dutiful serf to large corporate interests, as has every member of US Congress with the possible exception of Ron Paul.

So, bleary Americans have nothing much else to brood upon beyond the fact that Obama is half black, has 'Hussein' as a middle name, spent formative years of his childhood in places like Indonesia surrounded by Muslims, and is married to an