Why Euro-Obamania may not be a good thing for him...

He's a supremely clever political operator, so Barack Obama obviously realises that his German "Obamamania" pictures are a mixed blessing.

Yes, they neutralise any thoughts that he might not be able to hack it on the world stage, if elected President.

But it has to be asked: how do pictures of adoring Germans go down in Clark County, Ohio?

Not well I suspect. Headlines such as: Der Spiegel calls election for Obama are unlikely to go down well there.

At the behest of the Guardian, I wrote a letter to some poor fellow in Clark County, imploring him not to vote for Bush at the last election. (Other readers wrote to other voters in this key "swing" county.) In all probability my letter persuaded him to vote for Bush (the county, as a whole swung, to Bush at that election). What does a spineless Limey know, after all?

And this could well be the impact of Obama's German adoration on much of America. It might actually turn them against him. Americans don't like being told what to do by Europeans.

So Obama needs to follow up his world tour with some fairly grounded campaigning in Middle America - double quick.