Let's just take attitudes about how much the nation is spending on welfare as an example (from GSS 2004 data). Here is what we might expect to see if we really are as polarized on the topic:

This is what we call bimodal; there are in effect two separate groups and very little middle ground.
Here is what we actually see:

Surprise, surprise. The distribution is fairly flat (with a slight negative skew). But how could that be? When I turn on the TV or the radio, that's not what I hear. And, that's the problem. The latter chart above simply doesn't sate the public's lust for contention. That's right: the same thing that gets people to tune into Jersey Shore keeps people returning to "journalistic" media. We like a good fight, and the evening news, Fox News, and MSNBC are happy to oblige us. On the vast majority of issues, we are not nearly as divided as we are led to believe.
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