While the Americans have chosen a (wise) fixed-term system, our election is yet to be called. It's surely about time Australians think about implementing a Constitutional change towards a more mature democracy. How many of us would love to dispense with the on-going guessing games being waged by our media over John Howard's mind? Will he or won't he call the election in September, October or perhaps even after the November 2 American election?

Today, a small selection of writers and themes occurring in the US over the culture wars and the politics of John Kerry. Many of these discussions provide interesting food for thought here, especially for those arguing towards a strengthening of a two-party system. Is Latham truly the only option? And how much do we really know about him? As NHJ argues, thinking beyond an ALP/Liberal dynamic is central to the future of a healthy democratic system.

First up, a piece from the Los Angeles Times about the widening gulf between those who admire the role America is increasingly playing in the world and those who feel uncomfortable with the unilateral notions of the Bush administration.

Former counsel to President Nixon and author of Worse than Watergate, John Dean, says: 'In this country [the US], we don't tend to vote for people, we vote against people. So if people hold to their current feelings, we're due for another cliffhanger in November.' Sound familiar?

Finally, two startling pieces on John Kerry, written after the faux-excitement of this week's just completed Democratic National Convention. Greg Palast provides a scathing reading of Kerry's ideology while Counterpunch questions the so-called hero status bestowed to Kerry after the Vietnam War.

Palast and Counterpunch both articulate a worldview that can be equally related to Australia.

Our choice, come election time, is not simply between John Howard and Mark Latham or ALP pragmatism and Liberal neo-liberalism. Our political system demands, and indeed allows, much more.