Hillary Clinton struck a defiant note at yesterday's rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, making her first public appearance since her near-collapse at Sunday's 9/11 commemoration service in New York.

After encouraging the crowd to "fight for our children, fight for our families," and "make America all that it should be," the Democrat presidential candidate left the podium to a cheeky choice of song: James Brown's I Feel Good, selected as a riposte to those commentators who have raised concerns about her fitness following her recent pneumonia diagnosis.

Clinton may well "feel good", but her campaign managers might begin to feel queasy themselves when they realise the grim irony of their choice: Brown died in 2006 of pneumonia. If her team were not aware of the singer's cause of death, it will be seen as a particularly unfortunate gaffe, given the intense media scrutiny surrounding Clinton's health.