Without an anchor in a political tradition, voters are unable to recognize that their views on education might be related to their views on Social Security and that both reflect a distinctive philosophical understanding of human purpose. Voters with no ideology are not self-reliant, but weightless. Shifting from one candidate to another based on gestures and impressions, they crave leadership but will punish any politician who, in offering it, offends their vanity. It is difficult to recall an election with less eloquence about our nation's calling than this one. No viewers, no matter how good their math or how keen their interest, could follow each man's defense of his tax program.
Partisanship distills information.
Independence disperses it. Overly ideological politics, by fanning the enthusiasm of zealots, can be dangerous. But politics without ideology encourages myopia. James Madison, in Federalist Paper No. 10, wrote of fearing the influence of faction on the nation's politics. Were he alive today, he might well choose partisanship over pathos.