October 27, 2015 02:48 PM UTC

The Only Thing You Have to Fear Is...Everybody Else

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• by: Colorado Pols

You’ve probably read a story or two about voter registration numbers increasingly trending toward “Unaffiliated” or “Independent” rather than Republican or Democrat. You’ve probably also seen the stories about rising levels of straight-ticket voting.

How can both trends be possible at the same time? Here’s Ezra Klein for Vox:

It’s worth saying that a bit more clearly: you’re more likely to vote Democratic if you hate Republicans than if you love Democrats, and vice versa. What parties need to do to keep you loyal isn’t make you inspired. Rather, they need to make you scared…

…This, then, is the last 30 years of American party politics in a sentence: we like the party we belong to a bit less, but we hate the other party much more.

Republicans hate the Democratic Party, and Democrats hate the Republican Party…but Republicans have more hate for Democrats. From Pew Research:

Where are the damn Whigs when you need them?

(h/t to Socialisticat for the link).