Conspiracies and cock-ups make US presidential race so compelling

MANY political pundits have been writing off John Kerry because he is clearly behind in the public opinion polls.

Before Thursday’s debates he was trailing President George W Bush by 51% to 46% among likely voters in the latest national opinion poll.

But the majority of the American people do not necessarily elect the winner. If they did, Al Gore would be president today. The winner is decided by the electoral votes of the various states, and that race is much closer.