Pity Joe Biden. Were it not for the fact that he was preceded by Bill Clinton, his acceptance speech might have been the apex of the third and penultimate evening of the Democratic convention. But the former president’s unexpectedly generous address – and the fact that he gave the sharpest pointers so far on how Barack Obama can defeat John McCain in November – somewhat overshadowed the Delaware Senator’s otherwise (reasonably) well-honed keynote address. That, and Barack Obama’s ”surprise” appearance after Mr Biden had finished speaking.

But the real story of the evening and possibly of the convention as a whole was the manner in which the Clintons passed the baton to Barack Obama and brought a potential fractious Democratic Party together. Some commentators criticised Hillary Clinton’s otherwise highly rated speech on Tuesday night for lacking in personal warmth towards Mr Obama. Bill Clinton on Wednesday made up for that deficit, prompting some to surmise that the Clintons may have agreed on a division of labour. Either way Mr Clinton did more than enough to put paid to any serious doubts about whether the two will work for an Obama victory in November.