There is clearly something seriously wrong when there is a reasonable chance that Sarah Palin could be elected Vice President of the USA in a few weeks and could then be President within a few years, but there are some aspects of American politics that I have respect for.I like that fact thay they have fixed term elections which prevents those in power from calling elections at times that they are popular. Mrs Thatcher was behind in the polls for most of her time in office but managed to win repeated elections by calling them at the right time (for her), such as just after the Falklands War.
The USA also has two elected chambers whereas in the UK we started to dismantle the unelected House of Lords several years ago but have yet to decide what to replace it with.
Finally, the President is able to appoint whomever he/she wants to the various offices of state whereas the Prime Minister is limited to people in parliament. As a result, for example, Peter Mandelson is becoming a Lord just so that he can join the Cabinet.
So, three cheers for democracy in the USA but these are outweighed by the one massive boo for allowing people like Sarah Palin to rise to the very top.
Luckily the polls seem to give her a diminishing chance of getting to a position where she would be just a heartbeat away from the most powerful job in the world.
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