We Brits are given to looking down on the Yanks as 'Johnny-Come-Latelies' and their elections as a load of vulgar razamataz followd by more of the same.

But this time we clearly got it wrong - well at least with regard to the razamataz though we still have to sea how the 'more of the same' bit goes.

As a foreigner to the US elections, I judged McCain to be a decent man handed the poison chalice of the Bush heritage and a financial meltdown.

However, his choice of running mate was a self-inflicted wound of monumental proportions. To choose a lady whose very life style demonstrates an ability to ignore the facts and substitute belief for analysis, who reads no newspapers, who believes that being a 'hockey mum' and a distant view of Russia compensates for a total lack of knowledge of how the US, let alone the world, works.

A few days ago I was in the company of thousands of young Americans in a field with sea views extending to the far horizons. Though it was late October the sky was clear and blue and though the Americans were young and visiting a foreign country they were quiet and ordered.