THAT'S one election over with - now we have to look forward to another.

Politicians in this country have been grubbing through the embers of the American election to see what they can learn. Thankfully, most of it is lost in translation. Our own electoral system is bad enough, without importing all the mega-bucks nastiness of the presidential race.

Here are two things from over there we don't want over here:

Viciously partisan TV ads that go for the throat;

An obsession with religion as a basis for politics.

To my secular mind, politics and religion don't mix. They are too dangerous and unstable. Put the two together and you have a volatile combustion. Politics can learn from the compassionate side of religion - but too much of what dominates the American agenda is the hard religion of the far-right, the unbending faith of those who believe a vengeful God has smiled on them.

To the eye of the innocent agnostic, the sight of a re-elected, reinvigorated, re-born President George W Bush was unsettling. Even more so as the realisation sinks in that Bush possesses the sort of unshakeable faith that brooks no disagreement. He knows he is right and so feels no need to listen to advice that goes against his conviction.

So just how does this mark out Bush as being different from, say, an avenging Muslim leader who knows for sure that Allah is on his side? It beats me.

For all this, it is possible to over-play the importance of fundamentalist religion in re-electing Bush. The support of the congregation helped, but what really swung it was sheer political effort and craft. The Republicans had a better idea of who they were and what they stood for. They fought a more ruthlessly clear-headed campaign than the Democrats and won the day.

I can't remember an American election that gripped and agitated the rest of the world quite so much. It is hard to see how our own general election, to be held next year, will measure up.

Tory leader Michael Howard may take comfort from the fact that Bush was victorious from the right, breaking the consensus that elections are won in the centre. Yet it is hard to see how the Conservatives could do more than put a few dents in Tony Blair's political bodywork, which isn't as shiny as it was, but still gets him through most situations.

For an indication of how the Tories are going to play the election, you need look no further than the front page of a certain national newspaper this week. This right-tipping paper is past its best, but does keep trying. For the sake of argument, let's call it the Daily Express.

"Big tax cuts for millions" ran the shouty headline. Beneath was a story which began: "A million middle-earners will today be offered the prospect of escaping top rate tax if they vote out Tony's Blair's Government next year."

Apparently, this "news" was offered exclusively to the Express. So exclusive, indeed, that some unkind souls may be tempted to dismiss it as a Tory press release with a headline slapped on top.

Comment of all colours is welcome in newspapers. If you disagree, you can rant or write a letter. But comment dressed up as front-page news is something else - not as bad as the American attack ads, perhaps, but still enough to cause a bad smell.

Of course, the Express could always have tried a more honest headline: "Tories try to bribe you with tax cuts - again", but this isn't quite so snappy.

So the new Tories are up to their old tricks. As a strategy, I suspect this will simply slip off Teflon Tone, who shows every sign of winning a third election, even though no one seems much to like or trust him any more. And, like his friend George, he can come over a bit too evangelical.

Updated: 09:21 Thursday, November 11, 2004