And the lights all went out in Massachusetts

One year on, and the Bee Gees seem to have captured the flavour of Barack Obama's mood: 'And the lights all went out in Massachusetts, The day they left him standing on his own' (spot the minor tweaks in the lyrics to the band's 1960s classic single).

But will the fact that the Republicans have won such a totemic Senate seat in Massachusetts, held by Edward Kennedy for the previous 47 years until his death in 2009, actually make much difference?

Only time will time. But at least Mr Obama knows the honeymoon is over and he'll have to earn his spurs all over again with the American voters. It could well be the making of him.