Democrats enlist some movie magic

In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan did it with Morning in America. In 1992, Bill Clinton starred in The Man from Hope which helped turn him into the man in the White House. Today, John Kerry is enlisting movie magic to boost his own bid for the presidency. If modern nominating conventions are four-day political infomercials for the parties, the 10-minute bio-pic "introducing" the candidate has become the infomercial for the infomercial. Kerry's has been made in secrecy by film-maker James Moll, a protege of Steven Spielberg.

Sour dough

John Kerry's wife, Teresa, has upset the presidential spouses' cookie bake-off organised by Family Circle magazine. She submitted a recipe called Yummy Wonder, but apparently it didn't work. Her office then sent in a pumpkin spice cookie recipe, which appeared in the magazine's July issue with Laura Bush's oatmeal-chocolate contender. After readers gave the Kerry cookie a big thumbs down, Teresa disowned it: "I never made pumpkin cookies, I don't like pumpkin cookies." But it may be too late to save her husband. Since 1992, when Hillary Clinton won the first bake-off, the result has predicted the election winner.

Terrible tongue-twister

Obama, Osama ... someone had to make the mistake, and the distinction fell to Lou DiNatale, a Democratic analyst on a Boston cable TV network. DiNatale was bowled over by the keynote speech of Illinois senator Barack Obama. But he mixed up his b's and s's, saying "this guy Osama" was the best orator in the party "since [former New York mayor Mario] Cuomo in the 80s." The real Osama would have been a superstar indeed if he had made it to Boston and cracked the security around the Fleet Centre.

- INDEPENDENT