US Election Diary

*John McCain will try to kiss and make up with chat show host and comedian David Letterman this week. The Republican nominee was ribbed by the 'Late Show' host after cancelling on him at the last minute.

Mr McCain's official excuse was he was racing to Washington to help negotiate a bailout package, but then it transpired that he'd spent an extra day in New York. Letterman said he first felt like a "patriot" letting McCain off the hook to deal with an economic crisis, but then confessed to "feeling like an ugly date".

Perhaps Mr McCain should turn up on Thursday with a conciliatory corsage, for all the signs are that Mr Letterman is still holding a grudge. "In an attempt to save his campaign, they're talking about coming back," Letterman said. "But they're being squirrelly.... We do this show every afternoon at 5:30. He wants to do the show at 5."

*Susan Sarandon said earlier this year she was considering moving to Canada if McCain succeeds Bush. Alec Baldwin, Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford are reported to have threatened to follow suit. Now the US political portal Slate, has come up with: "If McCain wins, move to Canada!" – a spoof travel commercial.

Hollywood celebrities get automatically accepted onto the Expatriate Liberal Intellectual Theocracy Escape plan (ELITE, geddit?) and are provided with maple syrup and other goodies in a Canadian transition kit. Their final destination is a country where "gay marriage is legal everywhere" and as for abortion "heck, we'll even pay for it".

*Sister Cecilia Gaudette has not voted since 1952, but next month she intends to mark the box for Barack Obama, most likely becoming the oldest person to vote in the process. "I'm encouraged by Senator Obama," she told the BBC from her convent in Rome. "...he seems to be a good man with a good private life. That's the first thing. Then he must be able to govern."

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