Quote Originally Posted by Randi View Post

No party will get the majority of the votes, so they have to work with usually two other parties to get anything passed.
Randi - you have just defined the essential difference. Although there are small parties here that may appear on the ballot there are really only two parties - Democratic and Republican. One or the other will get the majority of the votes. And they do not - as we have seen the last four years in spades - have to work with any other party.

(p.s. - we can vote a straight party too - or candidate by candidate)