The world has watched as the Americans try to work out who will be their next president. At the time of writing, it's all down to a game of spin-the-bottle on the White House lawn. Or it was until the lawyers started arguing about which was the pointy end of the bottle.

With the United States showing itself to be in such a disunited state, we should treat cautiously the further introduction of American-style democracy into our own politics.

Yet Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's spokesman, believes live presidential-style debates could take place in future British general elections, observing that: "They are a perfectly good thing in principle."

Viewed from this side of the Atlantic, I'd say presidential TV debates were perfectly ghastly in principle. The main problem with such TV altercations is that they pretend to be about openness and honesty but in fact embrace no such virtues.

In the recent, still-stalled American election, Al Gore and George W Bush were so tightly wrapped in the Cling-film of presentation that it was impossible to tell exactly who stood for what.

Live presidential debates in America tend to be like that - a triumph of packaging over actual content, to the extent that what you see isn't what you get at all.

William Hague, a man much in love with the Republican party, has long wanted a chance to have such a head-to-head with Tony Blair. It's easy to see why, as the combative Hague performs well in the House of Commons, even if he does sometimes mistake the Palace of Westminster for the sixth form debating society. Still, he gives a good rant, and he would love to berate Blair live on television.

It's harder to see what would be in it for Tony Blair, who often sounds precious in debate, but when he rises above the lisping tendency, he can deliver a smartly-turned put-down.

Larry King, the star interviewer for the cable channel CNN, believes that television didn't love either Gore or Bush, making Al look "too rigid, too hard", and Bush appear "small, sometimes a little confused".

Interestingly, King thinks that Tony Blair and Bill Clinton have a lot in common. "When they come into your living room, they're comfortable in their clothes. They come into the room well."

But do British viewers want Tony Blair and William Hague in their living rooms at all? And will there be a chair somewhere for Charles Kennedy?

I suspect that presidential-style debates will irritate many viewers, especially those who are touchy about seeing the schedules knocked around to accommodate vote-for-me ding-dongs.

The Dimbleby brothers are being lined up to chair the debates, with David on the Beeb and Jonathan on ITV. But wouldn't it be more interesting if they got Graham Norton to do the job instead? I can just see it now... So Election 2000 (and no misprints, please).

Or how about introducing a trick from Radio Four's The Motion Show? In the name of entertainment, Tony and William could be forced to speak the unspeakable by having to make each other's speeches instead of their own.

Trouble is, you might have to pay very careful attention to spot the difference.

Now for something truly controversial... riding a bike in York. After years of walking and driving round the city, I can now call on two wheels as well. While my new bicycling status might permit me to join in the often acrimonious exchanges on this page between motorists and cyclists I would, instead, like to point out a simple, new-found truth: cycling is great fun.

On a day off this week, I whizzed along the muddy cycle track across Clifton and Rawcliffe Ings, free-wheeling through the puddles like the teenager I was a very long time ago.

What a release.