If Prime Minister Stephen Harper was hoping for a repeat of his successful performance on CNN, I suspect that he and his media advisers will be sadly disappointed when the reviews come in. Here's why. After the Obama meeting, Fareed Zakaria invited Mr. Harper in for an interview on CNN because he wanted Americans to hear views that he largely shares. Notably, he had already written a Newsweek column praising the Canadian banking system. And, as a longstanding critic of the Iraq war, he also wanted to hear Mr. Harper's take on Afghanistan, as President Obama was reflecting on a new approach to that conflict. Like Mr. Zakaria, Chris Wallace is a significant player in the Washington policy process, and he came well prepared for the interview. The son of CBS' legendary Mike Wallace, he's the most respected of the Fox News personalities and certainly no Rush Limbaugh. But the reality is that he invited Mr. Harper onto his program hoping to serve up some conservative views-even moderately conservative ones--to his largely conservative audience. You could almost see the disappointment on his face when the Prime Minister refused to criticize President Barack Obama's tax increases-the same increases that Mr. Harper had criticized at a conservative forum in Ottawa. And, with even centrist Americans sceptical about the auto industry bailout, Fox viewers must have been left with the impression from Mr. Harper's answer on that issue that even conservatives in Canada are left of centre. On Afghanistan, Mr. Harper came off as evasive when Mr. Wallace asked him directly whether Canada would reconsider its decision to pull out of combat by the end of 2011. And the smile pasted on his face will not have helped persuade Americans that Canada is a serious ally. Mr. Wallace's audience would have read in this morning's New York Times that the Administration has all but given up asking the Europeans to increase their troop strength. And, in the interview preceding the Prime Minister's, they watched as Defense Secretary Robert Gates suggested that the US was now looking for nothing more from Italy and Spain, for example, than to help train police officers. So, notwithstanding the price that young Canadians have paid in blood, our country will end up slotted in American minds along with the feckless Europeans. One can understand that Mr. Harper would not have wanted to criticize Mr. Obama's domestic policies. One can also understand that he is bound by a parliamentary vote on Afghanistan. What is less understandable is why the Prime Minister and his advisers accepted Mr. Wallace's invitation to appear on his program in the first place.