Can you spot the difference?

Most people who have been keeping up with things over the last few days will know roughly whats going on in the USA.

The story is still unfolding and with one state yet to declare but anyone who lives outside the USA (and there are one or two of us) may wonder what exactly has changed since yesterday?

The President may still be sat in the Oval Office and he still has the authority to push some pretty nasty buttons but apart from that, pretty much everything has changed.

The USA runs as a 'republic' whereas the UK runs as a 'constitutional sovereignty'. There are lots of differences, some subtle, some not-so-subtle and one of the main differences center around the offices of President and Prime minister.

Here in the UK, the head of the 'ruling' party holds the office of PM but in the states, the two entities are quite separate. The President holds office quite separately from the 'ruling party' and thats whats changed yesterday. The old ruling party (Republicans) are out and the Democrats are in. Thats a little bit like Tony Blair waking up tomorrow to find that the 'Tories' are now 'in' but he's still Prime minister.

Thats why this is very big news indeed. For the remaining two years of George Walker Bush's presidency, his party won't hold majority rule in overall government. The way in which the USA runs will change and this could affect the war, the economy and maybe the way the USA faces up to environmental issues too.

I've often thought that some bits of US politics seem better, not just the fact that they see a new President at least every 8 years but it may be a case of the grass being greener on the other side.

So as all the dust settles, there will be some changes stateside and you may not need to look too closely to see some of them either.