Guardian's Tom Clark On Polarised Political Positions.

If we Britons want to know what truly polarised politics look like, we need only glance across the Atlantic. Recent polling in the US asked respondents what they thought about repealing the 1975 Public Affairs Act, entirely fictitious legislation that – in two versions of the same question – it was suggested that either President Obama or the Republicans wanted to axe.

As Mick Blumenthal explains, a small proportion of voters are always willing to offer their views on subjects that they cannot possibly have any real opinion on, but as soon as the hate name Obama was mentioned in connection with the proposed repeal a full 39% of Republicans rushed forward to denounce it. More than a quarter of Democrats, likewise, rush to defend the non-act when it is said to be under Republican threat.
This sort of polarisation in the electoral base discourages politicians from reaching out across the partisan aisle, and ultimately leads to the sort of ludicrous stand-offs that now routinely mark every negotiation over America's federal budget. More fundamentally, it spells trouble for a democracy when it loses the ability to debate issues on their merits.
AND this is probably why UKIP have not yet gained power. Too many voters do not understand the basic issues! When they do understand us - most of the non-left cast votes our way.