US presidential race - Voters, not polls, decide elections

In THE past week Senator Barrack Obama of Illinois had momentum on his side in the US presidential primaries following his victory in the Iowa caucuses.

Public opinion polls gave him a further boost earlier this week, so much so that Senator Hillary Clintonappeared to show some emotional frailty on the eve of Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary.

Even the early exit polls seemed to indicate that Mr Obama was on course for another victory. A week earlier this would have been categorised as a stunning development. Ms Clinton was being virtually written off by all the media pundits, who were reduced to suggesting that it would be a moral victory if she finished a close second.