Worth reading this piece from @sam_rosenfeld who notes that, from all indications, Americans don't give a shit that one of two political parties is no longer committed to democracy. It's not changing voting patterns at all. I've got a few beefs tho. washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/0…
One, I'm leery of *any* attempt to ascribe stable political views to normies. Mostly people react to what they see, to what respected members of their tribes are doing. Mainstream media & Dems both refuse to *act like there's an emergency*, so voters don't think there is one!
(Meanwhile, on the other side, Republicans are *constantly* acting like there's an emergency -- Dems stealing elections! migrant caravans! trans people in yer bathrooms! -- and so their voters act like it too.)
Second, I really hate it when people discuss "partisanship" as though it's a force, causing things. It's similar to "climate change" -- it's not a force in itself, simply a descriptive term meant to capture changes which themselves have more proximate causes.
"Partisanship" doesn't cause reactionaries to hate Dems. It's racism, xenophobia, & a sense of cultural threat! The sides hate each other for specific reasons & "partisanship" is just a way to cast a net around all those reasons. It is not, in itself, a reason or a causal agent.
For myself, my antipathy toward reactionaries has to do w/ their unearned resentment & violence & anti-intellectualism & hostility to democracy. Calling that "partisanship" makes it sound like I just dislike them because they wear different colored jerseys. There are reasons!
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