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Political Polarization

Stoked

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https://www.gallup.com/poll/160097/obama-fourth-year-office-ties-polarized-ever.aspx

This year ties the most politically polarized year on record. There is a 76% difference between Repubs and Dems on the Presidents job approval. It ties coincidently with the start of GW Bush's 4th year.

Interesting thing is that it is showing that the country is much more divided over the last decade than normal. Of the past 10 years only one is before Bush and Obama. That is 12 year for Clinton. Now it didn't just start recording as it has Nixon, Ford, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Carter...if you scroll down further.
 
Both parties have been pushing this for years, as they seem to believe the only way to win votes is to scare people into believing the other party is worse. The 24-hour shock and awe media contributes too.

Sadly, it has created an enviroment where some people believe violence is the only answer. I am afraid that it would not take much for some people to be consumed with anger until they act out. There was the lady that was quoted saying she would kill Mitt if he were elected, there are many now positioning themselves against the president over other issues.

It will take a miracle, or man of Washington's character and stature to change our course.
 
Gerrymandering.

Districts are no longer competitive so we get conservatives trying to out right each other in red areas and liberals trying to out left each other in blue areas.

The solution is simple. If you aren't in a swing district then vote the opposite party for Senate and Congress. The worst you can do is vote a moderate in because no far leftist will have a chance against an established republican district, and vice versa. And since we all want moderates who will stop the politicizing and start working on solutions, you'll actually be voting the way you want without realizing it.

Vote Opposite! the movement that started on Jazzfanz and revolutionized the US political process.
 
https://www.gallup.com/poll/160097/obama-fourth-year-office-ties-polarized-ever.aspx

This year ties the most politically polarized year on record. There is a 76% difference between Repubs and Dems on the Presidents job approval. It ties coincidently with the start of GW Bush's 4th year.

Interesting thing is that it is showing that the country is much more divided over the last decade than normal. Of the past 10 years only one is before Bush and Obama. That is 12 year for Clinton. Now it didn't just start recording as it has Nixon, Ford, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Carter...if you scroll down further.

If you wrote with an active voice, using more proper nouns and specifics, this paragraph would be much more clearly written.
 
If you wrote with an active voice, using more proper nouns and specifics, this paragraph would be much more clearly written.

If I gave a ****.

This is a post on Jazzfanz and I am not overly concerned with how it appears as long as the general point gets across. I do not spend the time or effort on posts here that I would on work documents or soemthing else important.
 
The art of compromise is now a bad word. To compromise is painted in a light that it makes you look weak. As for a man of Washingtons stature to come along and fix it...I will not hold my breath. I think it will continue until something happens.
 
The art of compromise is now a bad word. To compromise is painted in a light that it makes you look weak. As for a man of Washingtons stature to come along and fix it...I will not hold my breath. I think it will continue until something happens.

What kind of something?
 
What kind of something?

Personally I think it will unfortunately be something violent. I do not mean mass rebellion, but some idiot from the right or left will do something extremely idiotic and so horrendous that people will be forced to take a step back and collectively cool down the BS rhetoric.
 
Nixon and Eisenhower had modest approval ratings from democrats because if you look at their accomplishments as a whole while in office many of them were left leaning if not outright liberal. For instance, while the Civil Rights Act was passed in the 60's the laws associated with them were never enforced in the real world south until Nixon got into office

In fact neither one would be republicans today.
 
Nixon and Eisenhower had modest approval ratings from democrats because if you look at their accomplishments as a whole while in office many of them were left leaning if not outright liberal. For instance, while the Civil Rights Act was passed in the 60's the laws associated with them were never enforced in the real world south until Nixon got into office

In fact neither one would be republicans today.

Possibly but it shows that both sides have dramatically increased their resistance to the "other side" over the last 12 years.
 
I hate all the division in our country, and hate politics in general.

I wish that there was no such thing as republican or democrat..... Instead i wish we were all just americans on the same team with the goal of making our country the best it can be.
 
I hate all the division in our country, and hate politics in general.

I wish that there was no such thing as republican or democrat..... Instead i wish we were all just americans on the same team with the goal of making our country the best it can be.

We are, we just have to get rid of all the Americans that aren't exactly like us. Then the country will be SAVED!
 
What the hell are you people talking about? The fighting is just for show, the 2 parties compromise all the time. Obama is a huge dissappointment, because he should have had some guts and stood for something , instead of spending the last 4 years focusing on appeasing Republicans.
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OB should have used the veto power. The most important battles are already lost in the first 30 days of his 2nd term. Another 8 years wasted by another compromising politician.
 
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what the hell are you people talking about? The fighting is just for show, the 2 parties compromise all the time. Obama is a huge dissappointment, because he should have some guts and stand for something , instead of spending the last 4 years focusing on appeasing Republicans.
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You should have used the veto power you puke Obama! The battle is already lost in the first 30 days of his 2nd term. Another 8 years wasted by another compromising politician.

Like any group of people I think there are those in DC that truly do not like each other. However alot of it is for show.

However the article was not talking about how DC feels. The article talks about the division emerging amoung the American people. The divisions are hardening and widening. Not a good thing.
 
The article refers to approval ratings of the President beng divided along party lines.
There was no discussion of divisions between people. You could infer such divisions, but there are other explanations. I think the divisions are more products of the media manipulating perceptions of politicans, rather then actual divisions regarding opinions on policy.
 
I think it's a good poll in the sense that it makes it obvious why presidents have higher approval ratings than congress even though they are all bloody fools. Presidents are propped up in approval ratings by their cult of personality ways and along party lines. They are not party neutral. That's it. It's not a good job assessment poll. It's just a party line indicator of the country at whole. If we had a good thinking public, they couldn't possibly point out enough differences in the way Obama and Bush have governed to warrant a 76 point spread completely overturning from one favorable extreme to the other except for no other reason than by being wholly dependent on which idiot marches under whichever banner.
 
I've felt, for a long time, that neither major party seems concerned about what's best for the country they're supposed to be running. As you pointed out, Stoked, it's more of an Us v. Them mentality. Media has a lot to do with it. I'm not talking about general news outlets, but rather types like Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck, and Keith Olbermann, and Bill Maher who feed the fire. The "other party" is wrong, no matter what. For some reason, people let these guys do their thinking for them, in droves. We need more Jon Stewart types.

We only progress through compromise. There is no other way.





But I'm not holding my breath.
 
I would put J Stewart in the same category....
on the other hand, I would say that it is just as much a problem , if not more, that too many journalists spend too much time just trying to air both sides, without giving sufficient consideration to what side is right.
 
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