Does the US electoral system make sense to anyone down-under?

Mid-term elections in the US are much talked about in the US and around the world, but I must say I find it really hard to fathom what it all means. I guess what really confuses us is that because the Exective is not drawn from members of Congress a President may be up against the two houses of Congress being in the hands of his political opponents.

I was reminded yesterday, as well, that because of the nature of the US Federation, Congressional elections are controlled by the rules of state legislatures. At least in Australia all our states have allowed a common approach and rules for federal elections.

The Tea Party, as they are want to be called - but I gather that really they are simply a faction within the Republican Party - has raised up a kind of political fundamentalism that has dragged the Republicans back towards the right so as to accentuate the policy and ideological differences between them and the Democrats. From where they stand the Democrats really do seem like Communists.

Commentators have suggested that this will greatly stymie Obama's presidency. But surely this situation is not foreign to US presidents. It seems to me to be an intrsinsic part of their political system and the place still ticks over.

I think that what Americans need to understand is that their country is recovering from the deepest recession their economy has experienced in over 60 years and no matter which party is in power it is going to take some time to recover from it. The Obama administration is not repsonsible for the policy settings that led to the GFC, but they have had to make the calls about how to minimise the impact of it. I wish them well - for all our sakes.