People don't want to think too much. I don't blame them. It's difficult. What's more is people don't like to be challenged. Well, most don't.
We've a two party system in the US. It literally forces people to choose a side, makes us more black and white, wrong or right. Families are torn apart by simple political ideals that often do not make much sense, or may not actually exist outside of a philosophical political argument. And most of us are aware that the answers and the questions are rarely black and white. I don't know how we reconcile with this. I mean, if you look at all the checks and balances in the system you begin to realize they also act like road blocks. While few of us will benefit from an unchallenged congress that can make laws whimsically, it also means very popular and dividing political ideologies will become intractable. Thus - we fight.
And we're so used to fighting, we not only fight with each other, but with our own family. I do not know any other country where this is acceptable behaviour. I mean, Europeans are stunned when I explain the custom of no politics at a thanksgiving dinner. And when I tell them many are OK with a president in bed with Putin so long as he doesn't make any laws restricting guns or abortion or increasing taxes or decreasing corruption. Shocking to them. They are so used to being more rational and mature. I do not blame them. Our system and our black and white nature prevents maturity. How can we grow if we stop learning after high school?
Of course, I give Europeans the nod here, but the right wing is starting to rear it's head again here as well. Well, not so much in Ireland, but the more eastern countries whose immigrant burdens have increased. Again, hard to blame them, easy to criticise them.