A $700bn bail-out smuggled into a mental health bill, a tense handshake between two presidential rivals, millions of dollars of sweeteners, self-important proclamations mixed with stories of hardship in everyday America – only the US Senate could provide such a ­spectacle.

The senators’ debate on the latest incarnation of the Bush administration’s financial rescue package was always intended to produce an overwhelming majority, in order to put pressure on the House of Representatives – and that it duly did, by 74 votes to 25.