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Anonymous
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Both Parties Are Uneasy Coalitions of Warring Factions
A new study shows not only a wide gap between the Democrats and Republicans, but also between factions within each party. The chasm between the parties is wider than ever, with greater polarization than we have had in decades. On the whole, Democrats and Republicans differ on abortion, civil liberties, gay marriage, gun control, health care, immigration, regulation of financial markets, separation of church and state, and the role of government in American life. Also, and that is new, politics has become a package deal. If you oppose abortion, you had better also oppose gun control and regulation of the financial markets. It used to be that people could have their own view on each issue separately, but now there is a Democratic package and a Republican package. A la carte is out.
Nevertheless, the study found several subgroups within each party, each of which places the emphasis on different items. The five groups comprising the Republican Party are as follows.
1.Tea party members who are ultraconservative, especially on taxes, and who will not tolerate compromises
2.Old-School Republicans who are wealthy professionals or old money and who don't care about social issues
3.Religious conservatives who strongly oppose abortion and homosexuality but are less unified on financial issues
4.Pro-government Republicans are often blue-collar workers with no college and annual incomes below $50,000
5.Window shoppers call themselves Republicans but don't really fit into the modern Republican Party
The Democrats are also split internally. The study found four factions.
1.Urban liberals are highly educated, live in cities, read the NYT and don't go to church
2.God and government Democrats are nonwhite, go to church, and want the government to help them economically
3.The agnostic left is made up of young people who rarely go to church and want a high wall between church and state
4.Do-it-yourself Democrats want more government services but also care about the deficit
During the campaign, these different groups are constantly jockeying for position and after the election there will be internal battles in both the winning and losing parties as each group tries to achieve power.
Full article:http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/big-gulf-between-parties-divisions-within/2012/08/18/f5ee15d4-e31a-11e1-ae7f-d2a13e249eb2_story.html
Interesting study- now if you are a party cultist, you are expected to follow the cultist way of thinking down to the last brass tack- and definitely no thinking on your own!