One News Now — A new study suggests U.S. politics is dividing the nation now more than ever. A conservative commentator, however, says the issues debated by citizens are really to blame.
The poll indicates political divisiveness is more polarizing than class and race. While issues regarding age, gender and ethnicity have typically separated the U.S. for decades, results of “Partisan Polarization Surges in Bush, Obama Years,” a recent study from the Pew Research Center, conclude that during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama presidencies, the divide between party lines has nearly doubled — from ten percent to 18 percent.
“I think, more accurately, the American people are deeply divided over some fundamental issues,” suggests Gary Bauer, president of American Values. “That division is being played out in politics, no doubt making politics seem more heated, more divisive, etcetera.”
The issue of same-sex “marriage” is one. Just 30 years ago, Bauer recalls there was no appreciable percentage of Americans who would have thought the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman was somehow flawed.
“It’s unfair to blame politics. Politics is just the name of the arena that the battle takes place in,” the conservative decides. “The defensiveness is happening in our popular culture, as people decide to embrace either a more traditional view about the role of government, about family, about life and love and so forth.”
The Pew survey concludes that neither party is solely responsible for the growing partisan gap. But Democratic and Republican values have both become more partisan over the past 25 years, and that trend extends to independents as well.
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