text: the last election?? please explain to a dumb canadian the difference between the congress and setate, and why mid-term? as i understand it now the democrats can change many things bush has done in the past and control what he plans for the future. aw, you can't be that dumb...you're smart enough to live in canada, eh?   congress refers to the full legislative branch of government, we have a bicameral congress split into the senate and the house of representatives, ("house" for short.) there are two senators from every state for a total of 100 senators, giving each state equal representation in senate, while the 435 representatives, or congressmen, are divided into districts according to a state's population. (so alaska has only one representative, while california has 53.) mid-term elections are the elections that take place right smack in the middle of a presidential term. we vote for all of our congressmen, who serve only 2 year terms, and a third of our senators, who serve 6 year terms. we also voted for various governors (terms vary by state,) city council members, state laws, and town ordinances.   the democrats do indeed now have the power to change things. bush still has the ability to veto, but with the democratic majority share of both the house and the senate, hes going to have to go along to get along. the biggest change that will happen now is that congress (meaning both houses,) will cease to "rubber stamp" everything bush proposes. thats been the case for the past few years, with not so much as a meek protest emerging from the capital building when bush cuts taxes for the rich or sends more of our boys and girls to die. so...no more of that. its a new era, and i can't tell you how happy i, and everyone that i know, truly is to see it ushered in.