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Partisanship is an American tradition

Is America still a “nation of ideas”? Warring tribes or united by principle, Donald Trump’s presidency forces a question we haven’t had to answer in generations. How America’s culture wars have evolved into a class war: The haves and the have-nots are doing battle, but not in the terms Karl Marx would have predicted. Political divisions are widening and long-lasting: Survey indicates deepening split on cultural, economic issues driven by education level and news viewing. Why now is such a strange era in American political history: The juxtaposition of broadly competitive national elections plus broadly non-competitive state elections is really unusual — and really dangerous.

Partisanship is an American tradition — and good for democracy. We need political parties, but their rabid partisanship could destroy American democracy — we’re trapped in a frightening “doom loop” of mutual distrust. The only problem in American politics is the Republican Party: No system could withstand a stress test like a major party captured by a faction as radical as the conservative movement.

The third party goes in the middle: Thank god the Reasonable Ones are finally moving ahead on this. Can a third-party ticket win in 2020? Maybe, but it probably won’t be Kasichlooper. Will the fantasy of a unity ticket just die already? The prospect of a John Kasich-John Hickenlooper run appeals to journalists and donors and virtually no one else.