Question: why is American politics so radically different from the politics of other major English speaking countries, e.g. Canada and the UK? Can you even conceive of a man with W's positions and personal qualities being elected in either of the two?

(Of course, when you include Australia and Ireland the contrast doesn't seem so stark. Aren't there many parallels between W. and John Howard? Both campaigned on the premise that their opponents were weak on national security, but both drew much of their appeal from unrelated domestic issues: W. from the "moral values" coalition, Howard from the MV Tampa affair and the resulting anti-immigration feelings.)