Delaware can reasonably claim to be the most innocuous state in the US. The tax-advantageous peninsula seldom incurs hatred, its opposite, or even a second thought from those outside its nearly 1m residents. Chuck Palahniuk’s novel Fight Club, in which a man seeks deliverance from a life of desk-bound averageness, has Wilmington, its largest city, as an implied setting.  

Not all politicians take after their states, but despite being Pennsylvania-born, Joe Biden is Delaware incarnate. In half a century of public life, the Democratic candidate for president has never assembled an intense fan base or many dedicated enemies. His politics are middle-of-the-road and his charisma is of the functional, baby-kissing sort. The polls suggest that President Donald Trump’s supporters are fewer but incomparably more zealous. This “enthusiasm gap”, with its supposed implications for turnout, disturbs the sleep of some of Mr Biden’s supporters.

It is also the most precious thing about him. The US has had two consecutive presidents with messianic followings, and it is worse off for the 12-year surge of emotion. No democracy is riper for a period of tepid leadership.