Bipartisanship and cross-party alliances are suddenly in vogue in the Senate this spring. The question is whether the Senate is a leading indicator of a change in politics or still largely an aberration in a nation divided along red and blue lines. …
The 2012 elections may have provided a wake-up call for Republicans on issues such as immigration, alerting GOP leaders to the general problems they face in presidential races. But the results also highlighted the degree to which the country’s partisan gaps keep widening — to the detriment and benefit of each party. [cont.]
Dan Balz, Washington Post