Thursday, June 12, 2014

Political Polarization Increases

Here are the latest poll results which, to no one's surprise, show an increasingly polarized electorate.


http://news.yahoo.com/u-political-polarization-increasing-poll-shows-141151199.html

15 comments:

  1. For 49 percent of Americans, the preferred outcome in battles between congressional Republicans and Democratic President Barack Obama is to split the difference, with each side getting half of what it wanted, the survey said.

    What this shows most is two things: (1) 1/2 of Americans favor compromise.
    (2) America is still predominately a centrist
    country.

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  2. Inconvenient truths for both sides of the pole:.

    For the hard right - Left wing nut jobs are not going away
    For the hard left - Right wing nut jobs are not going away

    Pontification and attempts to re-educate only go so far, and not far enough to stack the deck in any one side's favor.

    Bottom line: like it or not both sides are going to have to focus on making some deals with the enemy.

    The Bad news: media likes a good fight more than anything because it sells. And since politics is now owned by the media there is too much money on the line for them to cover anything but a high stakes good vs. evil political cage match.

    The good news: you don't have to convert anybody to any ideology to make mutually beneficial deals, just know why the other side wants and play to that. It's called interest based negotiations, and while the media driven political machine doesn't wanna go there, locals have been driving this deal-making on there own and the momentum is building.

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    Replies
    1. Compromise has generally meant spending more money. Your logic could be 180 degrees off Mick. Perhaps at least one 49% side does not want compromise but gridlock and therefore LESS SPENDING.

      Just another way of looking at the same data.

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    2. Yes William, I understand that compromise is difficult, maybe even costly, but without it governance grinds to a halt. The only way to govern without compromise, or some form of cooperation, is to have an autocratic system with no opposition and no checks and balances. I don't think that's what any of us want.

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    3. So, by your logic Mick we must keep compromising and spending more and more of our grand children's money.

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    4. Adult (Tea Party) to child (Republicans and Democrats): We just snipped your credit card.

      Next compromise kids?

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    5. William, the Republican establishment thought they had 1he Tea Party under control, and then BAM, Cantor falls and the establishment is in a panic. We live in interesting times don't we. There is a Chinese proverb about that.

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    6. Cantor will be folded into the DC/lobbyist/lawyer batter. He'll end up with more money if a bit less power. President Jeb Bush will name him ambassador of Israell and the entrenchment of the elite will mostly stay intact.

      His position will be filled with another faux conservative. More money will be spent. The dollar will continue to fail to support retired folks who saved all their lives. Yada yada yada,,,, this ain't about Eric Cantor.

      1773-2009 I reserve my right to rebel against tyranny.

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    7. William and Rick. Good points here but Jeb Bush for Pres? As far as I know he has not made any decision other than to consider his options. A bit like HRC for the Dems. With the baggage he will be hauling to the primary, can Mr. Bush generate traction to get the nomination? Also as a hypothetical question at this time; can anyone see Jeb carrying the country against Hilary? From what I have seen so far and admittedly it is not much, the good doctor seems to have considerable support across the Republican spectrum. It does appear that the TP will have to support the Republican nominee if any candidate from the right is to win. Do you believe Carson is a better proposition than Jeb?
      Cheers from Aussie

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    8. Kingston, Jeb favors immigration reform which may be the kiss of death for his Presidential chances. When he was governor of Florida he went on television during hurricane season and gave emergency instructions in English and then repeated the same in Spanish. His wife is also Hispanic. He was a very popular and successful Governor. Also, the fact that he is a Bush weighs against him I fear. I, for one, would like to see him as President.

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    9. Mick my thanks.
      As always I ask because I have an interest, not to push a particular party. That from a foreigner would be most uncivil. I refer to Jebs baggage as the controversy following a presidential election in the past when he allegedly cooked the vote in his own state. I asked for opinions on the Dr Carson situation; I was most impressed with one particular speech he made and he does come over as a very credible candidate. Would he have the power base to sustain a campaign do you think? If William reads this, do you think Carson would be likely to carry the majority of the Tea Party vote? Do you agree by the way that the Tea Party vote is absolutely critical to a Republican victory? If the answer to the last question is in the affirmative, is it likely, in the interests of the Right, that Tea Party members could compromise and support a Republican candidate not of their choosing?
      Thank you and cheers from Aussie

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    10. Many Tea's did not show up for Mitt, no doubt they will sit on their hands if Jeb is the chosen RINO.

      Carson is a tremendous man and story but if anything he might be a VP candidate and better yet surgeon general under a Cruz or Paul presidency.

      The recent HRC book tour is already taking the bloom off the rose. I'm still convinced her candidacy is less than a 50/50 proposition. One can only be spoken to like a second grader for so long.

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    11. Hillary's book bomb. Her publishers are concerned that their 14M investment will turn sour as her book only sold 10% of the sell through. Prediction that she will be lucky to sell less than 150K copies.

      This girl is fading fast.

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  3. From the looks of it nobody's getting tired of the Bush vs. Clinton political cage match that marked the beginning of escalated polarization in DC.

    Ya know - even wrestling fans demand more variety than voters and political junkies.

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