the voters are no bargain either

No wonder politicians in Washington can't compromise and regularly demonize the opposition: that's how the voters feel.  A new Pew poll, with a much larger than usual sample of over 10,000 Americans, finds strong evidence of political and social bifurcation. Liberals and conservatives don't want to live in mixed communities, don't want their children to marry outside the political faith, and believe that the opposition party is a real threat to the country. The Post has a series of charts on the findings. Dan Balz has additional analysis.

We are ideologically divided and live in reinforcing echo chambers. What's surprising to me is how deep these feelings go, and how much they have grown in recent years. I've long lamented the fact that each of the last three presidents was viewed as fundamentally illegitimate by a large fraction of the opposition party. Those corrosive opinions have now poisoned all political discourse.