Knight-Ridder: Harper & Bush "ideological cousins"

Blech. Check'r oot: "Bush may find political soul mate in Canada's Harper" By William Douglas (Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Harper, a 46-year-old economist, rose to Canada's highest office by talking about his religious faith, vowing to cut taxes and end government corruption, and promising to reconsider a same-sex marriage law that Canada's Parliament approved last June - all themes that Bush campaigned on in 2000 and 2004. In addition, Harper said he'll consider the White House's offer for Canada to join in fielding a continental ballistic missile shield, an invitation that former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin rejected.
"If George Bush can't get along with Stephen Harper, he can't get along with any world leader," said David Taras, a political science professor at the University of Calgary. "They're ideological cousins, if not twins."
[...] [Harper's trip to Afghanistan] also sent a message to Washington, according to John Hulsman, an analyst for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
"That was to show the cavalry is back in town, that they're not going to be anti-American," he said. "Harper, like Bush, has a black-and-white, good-and-evil view of the world - they're cut from the same cloth." [...]"The world is a friendlier place for the president, but the timing is wrong," Hulsman said. "When he was riding high, he had anti-Americans to deal with. Now, he's in a political zombie state, he gets people he can work with."