REPUBLICANS & TORIES
Why are the Republicans cornering the political market in the US while their British counterparts are floundering like fresh fish out of water? The Economist has a theory in their expose comparing London and Colorado Springs. "Crucially, the Republican Party's base is united by culture, not class. The best predictor of Republicanism among whites is not income, but church attendance. In 2000, Mr Bush lost nearly half the votes of people who earned more than $100,000 a year. The Republican Party is also populist. The archetypal Tory activist reads the establishment Daily Telegraph; the archetypal Republican listens to Rush Limbaugh howling against Washington (and is shocked to find that conservative talk-shows do not exist in Europe)."