I've never met a real live American who admits to ever voting for Bush - makes me wonder who did.

Americans themselves are the usual human mixed bag... but the government is scary, IMO. It hardly seems like a democracy, really. You apparently have to be fabulously wealthy to run for office, there appears to be no easy way to get rid of a bad government short of revolution before their term is up, and they seem able to do what they like with the laws with little regard to what the people might actually want. But that's just a view from outside.

Also, all of my most certifiable (and not in a good way) relatives live/were born in the US - they come here as a sort of southern plague every year or two. Blurs the image, eh.