We had the Conservative Party Conference a short while back, and there was some American political professor visiting and he got interviewed on his views as a visiting "dignitary" as part of it.
He was absolutely amazed by how it all worked. The fact that common citizens could engage elected officials in that manner, that key members of the government were getting lectured by the public and responding was something he said you would almost never see in the US. He made some comment that at the US political rallies you generally expected the senators and congressmen to maybe speak for 10-15 minutes before sitting back down but that you'd never see them speaking and discussing a matter for over 45-50 minutes in an open, public forum. He was all "I hope to god you never lose this element of your democracy."
It's all kind of quirky.
Edit:
Also, on more US specifics (at least gambling wise):
Donald Trump favourite to win 2024 presidential election (msn.com)