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Legal Commentary

: Althouse

"Now there?s evidence that the heightened partisanship has ? paradoxically ? led politically mixed couples to understand each other better than before...."

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"Although a sizable share of Americans don?t follow current events closely and don?t vote, the Trump presidency has been so polarizing and omnipresent that many voters say it has been all but impossible to avoid politics, even for couples who ordinarily do.... Politically mismatched couples may be the best example that Democrats and Republicans aren?t necessarily too polarized to relate. Battleground neighborhoods, where the number of Democrats and Republicans are roughly equal, have the highest rate of households with politically mixed marriages, the political science paper found. That suggests that in these places, the political climate may be more civil than people realize, Professor Hersh said. 'When we construct an image of the other party at a distance, abstractly, we tend to construct someone who?s different on every dimension,' he said. 'In spite of all the heightened rhetoric about Democrats and Republicans hating each other, they really do have exposure to these people in their lives, in their homes, and in their beds.'"

From "How the Trump Era Has Strained, and Strengthened, Politically Mixed Marriages/Fewer people want to date those with different political views. But couples are also talking through political issues more" (NYT).

So... are we polarized or not? The press has worked hard to present us as polarized, and this article goes back and forth on whether individuals, in their closest relationships, and doing political polarization. I'm especially interested in seeing where we are not polarized. That's why I read this article. I didn't quite get the encouragement I wanted. I knew the comments would be depressing. Top-rated comment:

To have a Republican partner would literally be "sleeping with the enemy." How could you trust someone who supported Donald Trump with a key to your house much less a place in your heart? The reason I say that is that the number one reason people vote for Trump is to "make liberals cry." Having a spouse whose goal in life is to hurt other people is inconceivable.

Full post as published by Althouse on October 29, 2020 (boomark / email).