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2/23/2016, 2:10pm

Political polarization affecting the upcoming 2016 election

By Caleb Huff

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Democrat or Republican. Left or right. Liberal or conservative. Unfortunately, there is no longer any middle ground in our political system. 

The American way of coming together and compromising to solve issues has gone away. It is a very sad reality in which we now live. One must agree with the other’s side and if you do not, you are ostracized from the group.

It is happening everywhere and dividing us more and more every day, and unless we truly try to put a stop to it, it will have disastrous consequences. I cannot tell you the number of times I have read a post on Facebook or seen an argument on Twitter where people are calling each other “idiots” or “morons” or just putting one another down for having opposing views.

People think that is an acceptable way to have an argument nowadays. At this point you are probably thinking to yourself that this guy is blowing things way out of proportion. Just hear me out. Then you can make an informed opinion with some research of your own.

Partisan politics have gone down of the country, compared to just 16 percent in 1994. Nearly 36 percent of Republicans see the Democrats as a threat, compared to 17 percent in 1994.

It is scary to think that these numbers have doubled in just 20 years. This is the main reason nothing is getting done. Each party thinks the other is clueless when it comes to governing, which is simply not the case, and can be especially dangerous when each party is spouting its rhetoric about the other.

You can see political polarization on the campaign trail this year as we gear up for the presidential election. Each of the candidates paints the opposing party as “evil people” whose only goal is to destroy America from within. It gets their base fired up, which is what they need for the nomination.

In the long run, it is hurting everyone. No matter how many people say it is so, Donald Trump will not be the next Adolf Hitler. Bernie Sanders may have some very radical ideas, but he is not a bad guy. People just need to realize that not everyone is going to agree with what they are saying. We as Americans have the duty to elect those that will serve the best interests of the country, not of their party.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer and are not representative of The Slate or its staff as a whole.

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