It's not only Republicans vs. Democrats now. America is being splintered into hyper-partisan factions: Trump supporters vs. GOP; Nationalists vs. Constitutional Conservatives; Socialists vs. Liberals. Independents who seek 'balance' must fight all extremism. It's a daunting task.

This brings up the less obvious point: the middle is being compressed. "Independents" are being splintered also.

There is a subset who see the road to moderation as pushing back on extremism, such as widespread liberal media bias.... 1/4

... but there are others in the middle turning on those people because they blame them for polarization.

In other words, political identity is becoming increasingly atomizing and is fracturing the ability to form reasonable coalitions based on sensible policies. 2/4

The cult of personality around public figures, a nearly escapable phenomenon due to the nature of mass media, is both a ready made vehicle for political mobilization and a loaded weapon that can backfire & frustrate broad-based coaliation building. 3/4

Americans need to concentrate more on preserving our Constitutional republic & less on personal attachments to political figures. If we don't do that, our politics will become further unmoored from its constitutional order. We need to return to making rational arguments. 4/4