Many in Europe consider that the American political centre is free flowing towards the right without much democractic mandate. This has clearly terrified the people of the US who used to consider themselves centrist, but now find themselves described as hard left because they believe gay men should not be strung up by the testicles on the street corner.
This is an incorrect view of the American political scene. True, George W. is a cowboy, but he is not very popular these days. Most people are fairly sensible. If by the left you mean national health insurance, that is not going to happen anytime soon, but the sacred cow will be saved--social security. They will not take that away from us. Abortion will also be saved.
™ Version 4.2