In the darkness of shutdown, brinksmanship, and default, NBC News and Esquire think they’ve found the last great hope for American politics—The Center.
Everything we know about politics is wrong and America isn’t hopelessly divided is the gushingly optimistic conclusion of their widely publicized (and criticized) poll released Tuesday. “Emanating strongly from this rich and complex set of data from which the most complete and useful portrait of the new American Center has emerged comes this theme, expressed in a dozen different ways: a demand for the classic American notion of fairness,” according to Esquire. …
Of course there is a center—ideas a simple majority will agree to—but that doesn’t mean America isn’t firmly sorted into political camps. And here’s why: The independent voter is a myth, at least as far as the science is concerned. [cont.]
Brian Resnick, National Journal