The past 20 years have seen the ideological purification of both political parties. Liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats are largely history.
During the same period there has also been geographic alignment. Republicans have moved to red states and Democrats have moved to blue. Now we see a sorting by ethnicity/race, which can be thought of as the rise of tribal politics in the U.S.
The Gallup polling organization reports non-Hispanic whites have become more Republican during the Obama years. I expect this trend to intensify as a result of the 2014 election. Hat tip to the Drudge Report for the link.
There has been no corresponding political realignment among non-whites. Most already identify as Democrats, just under 70%. Slightly more than 20% of non-whites identify with the GOP, also a stable number.
The so-called party "tents" keep getting smaller, the occupants more homogeneous and more physically separated from each other. If anything, this makes intra-party fights over policy nastier and collaboration between parties tantamount to treason.
The ultimate expression of this "us vs. them" human tendency is civil war. We've already been there ... done that ... got the bloody shirt.
