In his new book, "The Political Brain," Drew Westen analyzes in detail the election debates of 2000 between Al Gore and George W. Bush. Westen points out that it was Gore's dispassionate approach to issues that hurt him. Bush, then as now, presents himself as someone who knows what is right (and moral) and sticks to it, come what may.
Most Americans respond to the style of a candidate who conspicuously takes the moral high ground, waving flags, copies of the Bible and state-of-the-art weaponry in the air. In Japan, however, such a politician would be ridiculed for what he or she is: a self-righteous, self-serving poseur.
The styles of Japanese and American election campaigns could not be more different. Even in our day, when European electioneering is looking more and more "presidentially American," Japanese campaigning remains uniquely suited to the essentially nonconfrontational mores of the society here.