From yours truly, in this term's Rockefeller Center newsletter. Key quote:
The propensity toward gridlock is a risk in any system with direct election of the President. However, in the United States, this propensity is exacerbated by the low regard and low expectations we have for the Congress. We seldom reward legislators with a promotion to the White House. In the postwar period, for example, only John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama have been elected President directly from the Senate. Quite the contrary, the American public tends to reward governors who make a bid for the White House, particularly when they run as Washington outsiders. The elections of Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush were all based to varying degrees on this strategy.
Enjoy?