If nothing else, impeachment here in Trumpistan is demonstrating - once again - the high levels of political polarization in the US today. Ezra Klein flags a study suggesting that the current levels of polarization are actually fairly normal by historical standards. I think there's merit there. In the 19th century, election day violence was fairly common. Even when the parties had few ideological differences - as in the Gilded Age - partisanship was high. Some of this is the broad idea of identity politics. If you were a white Southerner or an Irishman, you voted for the Democrats. If you were African American or a small town merchant, you voted for the Republicans. Your identity WAS your politics, because there were few issues that broadly separated Americans.
One thing Klein doesn't talk about - and few do, which is baffling - is the impact our electoral system has on polarization. Not campaign finance issues but the simple matter of a single member district where the person with the most votes - not the majority of votes - wins the election. This "winner take all, and the winner just has to be least unpopular" system rewards partisan fervor and disdains compromise. It forces people into one of the two parties (or dooms them to counterproductive third party support) and increases the level of partisanship.
Having said all that...Fox News, man....Fox News.
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