After spending the past week in a bitter toe-to-toe confrontation with Hillary Clinton and trying to stamp on a rumoured scandal allegedly propagated by her supporters, Barack Obama sought to save himself in the gentler light of an American family Thanksgiving.

At a campaign stop in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Wednesday the Democratic presidential candidate helped pack Thanksgiving food hampers for the poor and needy, fitfully putting apple juice into boxes while answering soft questions from a rank of journalists before him.

He said he was looking forward to getting home to Chicago where he would see his two children and his wife, Michelle. He worries about them when he is on the campaign trail and at Thanksgiving dinners he is “the clean-up guy”, we learned.

“Michelle has all these wonderful uncles and storytellers so I spend the day listening to other people, rather than talking,” he said.

Is his holiday a truce from the acrimonious political battle he is fighting? “The other candidates can do what they want,” he replied, “all I know is that I’m going home to put my feet up, watch some TV and see my family”.

Does he have a seasonal message for Mrs Clinton? “I wish her a wonderful Thanksgiving.” How about her agents? Mr Obama’s smile faded into pursed lips as he looked away.

Last weekend, Mr Obama reacted furiously to a report by a conservative columnist that “agents” of Mrs Clinton were sitting on unspecified “scandalous information” about him. Mr Obama told her to put up or shut up, saying he would not allow his presidential campaign to be “Swift Boated” by insinuation and smears. This was a reference to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth who disabled John Kerry’s presidential bid in 2004 with false charges about his Vietnam war record.

Mrs Clinton’s campaign has protested its innocence and suggested that Mr Obama’s reaction once again demonstrated his naivety.

This week there were more clashes as the Democratic candidates crisscrossed Iowa and New Hampshire, crucial states which kick off the presidential nomination process. On Wednesday New Hampshire confirmed that it would hold its primaries on January 8, five days after the Iowa caucuses.

Mrs Clinton seized upon remarks made by Mr Obama that his childhood, which was spent partially abroad, had given him valuable insights on foreign policies. She highlighted her own intimacy with world leaders after eight years in the White House and seven in the Senate, saying: “Voters will judge whether living in a foreign country at the age of 10 prepares one to face the big, complex international challenges the next president will face. I think we need a president with more experience than that.”

This triggered a retaliatory shot from Mr Obama in New Hampshire on Tuesday night, who contrasted her own vote in favour of the Iraq war with this steadfast opposition to it. “I was wondering which world leader told her that we need to invade Iraq,” he said.

Although Mrs Clinton remained the democratic frontrunner, the most recent poll in Iowa suggests she has slipped four points behind Mr Obama.

Robert Gibbs, Mr Obama’s campaign spokesman, acknowledged that this week has been one of the nastiest yet in the 2008 presidential race.”It’s getting close to the end now,” he said, “and people start getting nervous about where they are.”

John Edwards, who in Iowa at least, is locked in a three-way fight for the democratic vote, has risen to the defence of Mr Obama against the woman who attacked him for being too aggressive and negative in last week’s presidential debate. His spokesman said: “Now we know what Senator Clinton meant when she talked about ’throwing mud’ in the last debate. Like so many other things, when it comes to mud, Hillary Clinton says one thing and throws another.”

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