Bush has been amazingly vague about the "issues" (things like abortion and gun-control and NAFTA that American politicians are supposed to have one-sentence views on). Still, he enjoys ridiculously high approval ratings and has collected even more ridiculous amounts of money. The Japanese broadcaster professed to be confused.
"He is handsome," the Tokyo Broadcasting Company journalist is reported to have said, "and he is charismatic. But I still don't know the reason he is so popular."
In an election, style matters much more than substance. Most Indians take that as granted, given the 70% illiteracy of the heavily populated regions of our country. But this seems to be something that is unfathomable to denizens of better-educated countries.
What still surprises me is that the American electorate behaves no different from our illiterate hordes. Sad, that is.
