After years of watching President Bush ignore Congress, at best, or disdain it, at worst, there is relief in listening to the British prime minister face questions in Parliament. As seen on C-Span, these events feature literate parries and thrusts, complete sentences, artful arguments, all to a chorus of noisy yeas and brays.

Senator John McCain, the presumed Republican nominee for president, has now promised that if elected, he will bring this hallowed British tradition to America.

This is a daring idea. The public might learn a great deal about its leaders both in the White House and in Congress. Of course, an American question time horrifies some politicians. Some argue that America is different. Congress is not a parliament. Some even contend that the president is elected to lead everybody, not just his or her party  a quaint notion to anyone who has paid attention in the last seven years. Mainly, the politically experienced say the idea is a death wish.

British experts like Peter Riddell of The Times of London suggest that the real problem might not be the president’s inability to answer questions, but getting members of Congress to ask decent ones. British queries tend to be short, fast and bitingly to the point, a skill set not widely available in Washington.