Canada (for instance. We're far from the only ones, though we're the closest, and probably the most directly affected by US politics) has some of its best political analysts and journalists constantly observing (and commenting on) US politics.

Their coverage is not without some bias (and of course, in some cases there are Canadian perspectives and issues involved in the coverage and it's not of great interest to Americans - nor are the segments focussed on explaining the system to Canadians), but as observers of US politics rather than players it's far more dispassionate and "objective" (I don't believe much in that concept of objectivity). Observing from the outside (and inside, a lot of these people live in the US) has its limits, but we're also constantly pointed by our media toward the "must-read" in US publications (books, newspapers/magazines but also audiovisual media) from both sides - and the must-read in international publications as well. US analysts (usually scholars, sometime political insiders) also have a big presence. During primaries or the elections, it's also quite usual to have US commentators from many sides presenting their respective POVS in the same article/shows.

There's one "voice" that's massively commented/discussed but fairly rarely heard here, and it's that of the ultra-conservatives (more specifically the moral right).


I listen to the radio virtually all day long when I work from home. At the moment there's rarely under 2 hours of segments devoted to US politics on any day (during the election, it will easily be twice that, more at important junctures). For example, two days ago a morning show had a 30 min. discussion/debate over the book Coming Apart: The State of White America, between two Canadian and three American (one Democrat, two Republicans) analysts.