Playing on that frustration, a popular Moscow radio station, Echo Moskvy, is holding a mock U.S. election on their Web site. Land of Excesses Europeans are bemused by the U.S. election process. America is seen as the land of excesses. A campaign running two years at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars is seen as a product of that excess in countries where parliamentary elections can run as little as two weeks or two days at minimal cost. And after all the time and money, to have an election that may produce a record-low voter turnout, is seen as verification the process is pure madness.
European comedy shows love taking shots at America.
There is a near universal view the U.S. presidential race has become little more than a beauty contest. Columnist Mark Steyn in Britain's Spectator recently ridiculed what he calls America's obsession with physical appearance. Apparently, he started working out last year because focus groups showed that men didn't think he was as much of a 'real man' as Bush. The Texas governor doesn't pump iron, but he does run every day, usually in the afternoon after a light lunch and a couple of execution orders. The French weekly L'Express seems to agree.