I agree that someone who's truly Finnish or Portuguese would have quite different views. But the word "European" here is deceptive--when I said no one of European background, I'm not talking about real Europeans (who I couldn't interview anyway, unless they lived in the US). I'm talking about white Americans, the vast majority of whom have been here for generations. If someone asks where my family is from, or what my background is, they're basically asking me about my racial heritage. People don't see themselves as American by blood or by heritage, only by citizenship. I identify myself as British and German. Pretty much every American will do the same thing... we're all "Italian" or "Irish" or "Swedish." I know it probably doesn't make any sense.

RYC: I totally agree with you that most Americans are way more conservative than Europeans, both politically and socially. Wisconsin is known for being conservative and rather monolithic, but even the most liberal cities (San Francisco and Boston) might not be liberal by European standards! Sometimes I'm conservative and sometimes I'm not. I do wish we had national healthcare and the kinds of social services so many European countries seem to have, and I think we should be better about working with other nations, instead of going our own way so much.