Well, having a European perspective on American politics, I think the US system is essentially flawed. A two-party system is not enough to represent the whole gamut of political views. Alternative voices are not being heard, and they themselves ultimately choose one side to prevent the other "more bad" side winning, not because that side represents the views they want representation for. It's a myth that a multiparty system (>2 parties) leads to stagnation and a passive stance, because power is diluted across the board. Forming coalitions gives small parties a chance to get into government.
"Circus" is an apt word for the presidential election campaign, we can't believe the level of smearing and backstabbing that goes on in for example TV spots. That would actually be illegal in Holland, you could get sued for misrepresentation and slander. And the costs for a campaign are ludicrous: If the US would skip 1 election they could reform health care and education with the money that was not spent. But that would leave Bush in office for another term, so I personally think this time it would be money well spent
I think it's good that there is a chance of renewal if Bush bites the bullet in the long run, starting his downfall with this Senate thing. His whole "if you are not for us, you're against us"-attitude is a bit scary for me. He himself doesn't seem all too bright, it's his clique that is scary. They let you believe that the outside world is a dangerous place (part true) and that the only way to keep it out is by selling out on your personal privacy (not true). In the land of the free and brave, you're not that free anymore. You essentially live in a fear-driven society that favours conservatism and agressive behaviour (to strike them before they strike us). In a land that has a clear freedom of speech principle, it is logical that large corporations get to influence the media, because that is their right, right? But freedom of speech is now directly related to the funds you have to get your view out in the world. The more money you have, the better your freedom is to express your views because of better control of the outlet. It seems the republican senators are not sticking by Bush this time, the constituency wants change and wants out of Iraq (which actually now would be disaster to that country, civil war wil tear it apart). To be fair, I'm not stomping on US politics just to point a finger. I'm disappointed with our government as well. Ours fell a couple of months ago, so we get elections next week. It actually looks that our leftwing green and social parties are stealing seats from the bigger political parties who are bickering among themselves. So that looks promising. Our prime-minister just went puppy-eyed when he got to visit the great world leader Bush in the US to support the campaign against Iraq, it was shameful. We're still awaiting our first terror attack. Although a famous contrarian and independent film maker (Theo van Gogh) was brutally (ritualistically) murdered last year by a fanatic Muslim who meant to upset society with his deed.
Well that was a lot to get of my chest. It pains me to see that a great country like the US (which I like for a lot of reasons) has to suffer the slights of the world because of it's president's agressive and at times unbelievably stupid behaviour. So I hope nobody is offended (remember freedom of speech), and if some are, so be it. We all have the right to disagree in a democracy.