THAT Pew study

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http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/pew-stud ... ompromise/

I don't believe either party is threatening the future of America. I think extremism is threatening the future of America. ALL forms of extremism. And I don't place myself in any political category. I don't care what others tell my my category is. I do, definitely, know what my category is not.

These two figures are perhaps the most informative from the mentioned Pew study, as they may explain why US party politics are so polarized.



Source:
http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/ ... an-public/
http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/ ... -activism/

Food for thought:

• Consistently Partisan individuals are significantly more likely to vote than individuals with mixed opinions, as demonstrated in the smaller figure. The share is 19 percentage points higher for Democrats and a 37 percentage points (almost double) higher for Republicans.
  
• Only slightly more than 20 percent of the US public belong to the extreme positions (consistently liberal/consistently conservative), yet these are disproportionally higher represented among the politically active members of society.
  
• An issue that has been especially salient in the recent years is the Republican primary election, which is generally believed to skew the Republican Party in a much more conservative direction. This is also readily apparent in the above figure, where the consistently Conservative share is double (18 vs 9 percent) that of the general public. A similar pattern exists on the Consistently Liberal side, but it is not as pronounced (only a 33 percent increase in the Consistently Liberal share).
  
• Liberal leaning individuals make up a slightly smaller share of voters than their share of the public. However, those who hold mixed political opinions tend to make much up a smaller percentage of voters, especially in Primary Election, where they are under-represented by 30 percent compared to their share of the general public. Both Primary and General voters are skewed towards Conservative voters, as these (unlike Liberal leaning and Mixed voters) make up a larger percentage of the Voters than the general public. Liberal leaning individuals tend to be more politically active than both Mixed and Conservative leaning individuals in other respects... but if they don't show up on Election Day...

Summary:

• It would seem that the political polarization of the the United States is tied to differences in voter turnout, where voters with more extreme positions are more likely to show up on election day. Thus, if general voter turnout could somehow be increased, this would make moderate voices much more powerful in the US political landscape.
• Primary elections seem to significantly impact the polarization of US politics, as they skew political parties towards more extreme candidates.
• Almost everything is worse with the Republican Party.

Judging from what I observe in my own community, this could possibly be age related. Whenever I have been to the polls I have rarely seen people under the age of 40 exercising their right to vote. I think these older voters tend to be more set in their ways than younger voters. Set in their ways translates as easier to target with political ads. Easier to influence and manipulate. Easier to convince to vote against their own interest. Reluctant to adapt. Probably more likely to be available sitting at home near a landline to bombard with political rhetoric. More inclined to sit and listen only to what they are familiar with and conditioned towards.

Young people vote by mail where I live, I've never actually voted in person but mail in my ballot every election.

The greatest threat to America is our unwillingness to live within our means. Republicans, Democrats , Green Party, Tea Party, Ross Perot Reform Party, and possibly even self-identified American Libertarians don't want cuts to their programs.

We are in economic imperilment right now.

However, our military should put some fear into any country that considers not buying our debt, or moving off the US dollar as the world's reserve currency.