The Socio-Economic Demographics of the Partisan Era

The recent New York Times article "Vote Like Thy Neighbor" confirmed a lot of suspicions I've had lately about the direction of American politics--namely, that contrary to a lot of media attention to a new "post-partisan" era, Americans are likely to be even more entrenched in their political outlooks than in years past. Geographically, liberals and conservatives are more likely to live in different neighborhoods, cities or even regions of the country, a fact which has repercussions on electoral campaigns, income stratification, even preferences for food and shopping.  

As a member of the young demographic that the authors assert is more likely to perpetuate this partisan divide, I am deeply apprehensive about the findings of the study on which the article is based--namely, that although most Americans want their politics to be less partisan, we are facing an uphill battle to eliminate partisanship, which has become "embedded" within the very fabric of American society.  

A couple of signs give me hope for the future. First is that the two presumptive nominees for president have shown a stated willingness to buck trends within their parties in favor of developing broad-based coalitions for change. The second is the very real hunger of most Americans to bring the era of bitter partisan disputes to a close.  We now have the basis for real change: the Vision and Leadership (as articulated by the candidates); and the Will (as exhibited by the electorate).  I cannot believe that the majority of Americans want our lawmakers to spend the next four years in total gridlock while vital issues like education and health care reform languish.