The lights in Boston’s Fleet Convention Center have just dimmed and America’s 2004 presidential campaign has begun in earnest with the official nomination at this week’s Democratic convention of senators John Kerry and John Edwards.

Mr Kerry has gained in the polls against George W. Bush, but not the traditional 15-17-point bounce a nominee historically gets after a convention. By yesterday, he was leading by five compared with his pre-convention two-point lead. There simply is not that much elasticity in this year’s electorate. Polling by Zogby shows that a paltry 5 per cent of the electorate is undecided (as opposed to a usual level of 20-25 per cent) and only about 3 per cent of each candidate’s supporters say they might change their minds before the November 2 election (against the usual 20 per cent).