Maybe you guys could get your president to stop ending his speeches with "God Bless America", unless he is blessing all of both continents
Now, to the topic. I've met quite a few both here in Oz and in the US. Most seem pretty 'normal' to me. The further you get from major population centres, the more inward looking people become, and this is true of here as well as the US - we just have a shit load more empty space here, so it *seems* we have less rednecks. On a per capita basis we are pretty close. Ditto for inward focussed people/geographically challenged people.
Someone earlier mentioned how low the percentage of passport holders is in the US. While I don't think our is as low as the 7% mentioned, it is probably not that high either. My parents are in their sixties and only got passports about 5 years ago and I'd say they are typical of older people.
I guess the biggest stereotypes are driven by news bulletins, Springer and Co. and other TV exports. What are the things likely to be seen on the news? Bush stuffing up a speech / coming across looking like a dill. That 20 second sound bite reflects badly on all USAians
Other things on TV - don't you notice how TV shows generally portray the people? It is almost never "normal" people, so no surprise that everybody else gets the bad impression.
I have come across the older/loud american tourist, wearing the stars and stripes tracksuit. He/she is definitely cringe worthy. Don't worry - everybody else has their own loud obnoxious idiots - you are not alone