The Sunday Telegraph reports that an unprecedented number of Hollywood personalities and rock stars are being lined up to pay tribute to the Messiah at the upcoming Democrat convention in Denver. Not all Democrats are impressed, however.

A Democrat strategist who served on the last two presidential campaigns told The Sunday Telegraph: "He was getting blasted last week for behaving like a blonde bimbo and what does he do? He sends out Gwyneth Paltrow to do a get out the vote video. It was like saying my blonde bimbo is better than yours."

The strategist blamed the focus on Mr Obama's personality on the absence from the campaign of those with more experience of presidential contests, partly because of splits between the Obama and Clinton camps.

"An awful lot of people are not even going to the convention. His team should remember that Walter Mondale (the candidate trounced by Ronald Reagan in 1984) regularly drew crowds of 100,000."