If there is one man capable of making a European feel truly European, it is not President Jacques Chirac of France or Chancellor Gerhard Schröder of Germany. It is George W. Bush.

The re-elected president needs only to open his mouth to remind your average European of the big cultural, moral and political divide that runs through the Atlantic. Until last week, many Europeans mistakenly assumed that Mr Bush's election four years ago had been an aberration - the consequence of some freak historical accident or electoral sleight of hand. They believed a victory by John Kerry would signal a return to normality. Since Tuesday, it has become painfully clear to them that the problem is not Mr Bush himself but the people who keep electing him. In other words, it is structural, not cyclical.