One of the major sins of a political party is when they stop talking to anybody that is a member of that party to the exclusion to all else. Right now that's the way both parties are acting. I don't think that anybody can actually say the members of the current Republican party give a damn about somebody who is not a Trumpist/Republican. I fear that the Democrats also seem to listen to each other rather than outsiders.
This is unfortunate and another indication of the "Not Give an Inch" and "My Way or the Highway" politics of each side. If the Dems do win, however, they are going to be, I think, deluged by many not exactly on the Dem radar right now. My fond hope is that this will break it all up and get us back to two sides talking it over.
We will, of course, in the fullness of time............
I think Biden's history of trying to work across the aisle, at least as a senator and brokering the deal to end the government shutdown as VP with McConnell is one of the main reasons I'm backing him. I'm also so sick and tired of this modern era of politics of polarization and ultra high partisanship.
I think what you say is why a majority of Americans have an unfavorable view of both major parties, Democratic Party 56% unfavorable, Republican Party 61% unfavorable. This is why I think both parties are shrinking and independents are rising, from 30% in 2006 to 40% today of the electorate. Neither party represents them anymore.
The numbers, from 2006 the democratic party has dropped from 37% of the electorate down to 31%. The GOP from 31% down to 25%.
This was the time when both parties went to their very partisan leaders who replaced leaders who respected each other and for the most part were willing to work with each other. In the Senate, Lott and Daschle gave way to Reid, McConnell and now Schumer. Which gave us the nuclear option, my way or the highway. I could never envision Lott and Daschle, Mitchell and Dole, even Baker and Robert Byrd even thinking of it.
I'm probably living in the past, cooperation and respect between major parties probably will never return to what it once was. If you go back through history, you'll find there were very few party line votes pre-2006. If there were, they were a rarity. Now it's the norm.
