WASHINGTON POST: American politics has long been defined as Red vs. Blue, and everything about the 2012 election speaks to the chasm that separates the two parties. But a major new study highlights how those divisions are only a part of the dynamic shaping the political landscape…
The Post-Kaiser survey examined the breadth and diversity of the electorate to explore the changing shape of a Republican coalition that has become more Southern in its base and more conservative in its views, and yet encompasses groups with significant disagreements over whether confrontation or cooperation with the Democrats is the preferred path for governing.
The study looks, too, at a Democratic Party that, while women make up a clear majority of supporters and grass-roots activists have a large voice, is a coalition of groups with divergent views on government regulation of the economy, the size of government, the role of religion in public life and such hot-button social issues as abortion and same-sex marriage… (more)
