Our system does have some major differences. There are good & bad things about that. We have no real mechanism for changing govts. except by election...or impeachment. This provides stability and predictability, but means that a 'leader' with 29% approval still is in there for 2 more years.


"Leader of the party" is not really a working concept here. We have "chairman" of the party...who is NOT the candidate, but more like an organizer between elections. It is a bit unusual that Howard Dean, who failed to become the candidate last time, was chosen to be chariman.
Candidates who lose in a National election 'usually' do not get a 2nd chance....for one thing, it's 4-8 years before they can even try, and by then there's a new crop. Kerry, for instance, knows that he collected all this baggage and bad press from NOT winning, and has decided not to try. (Al Gore, with his film, has better ratings, but still probably not enough to win.)