Americans appear as divided as ever.
And some of that is probably the advent of so many 24/7 news outlets, combined with social media, that's endlessly pumping it in front of you. Some of it is real but as is often the case there's a lot of additional context and texture to the conversation.
We're all aware that not all Democrats, Republicans or independents are created equal, but we also probably aren't aware of where we stand with one another.
Pew Research wrapped up a pretty impressive study on the "Typlogy" of the average American.
For high engaged Americans here's what they found...
Democrats and Republicans fell into four categories:
Democrats:
- Solid Liberals: 25 percent
- Opportunity Democrats: 13 percent
- Devout: 11 percent
- Diversity driven: 6 percent
Republicans:
- Core Conservatives: 20 percent
- Market Republicans: 10 percent
- Enterprise based: 9 percent
- Country First: 6 percent
There are currently about 5 percent more ID Democrats of some sort compared to Republicans among the most engaged.
The numbers change as engagement level changes. For example, 8 percent of Americans currently say they're on the political sidelines at the moment.
Among all Americans, 29 percent fall into "the extremes". That number jumps to 45 percent among the most engaged with the extremes on the left being the single biggest driver of politicking right now.
That being said you still have nearly as many Democrats who are just lifers and believe the party represents opportunity (and that's why they stay there politically).
Republicans are interesting in a different way. While core conservatives are the largest constituency, there are still just as many business/market oriented folks.
You can draw the conclusions you'd like from here but it tells a much more complex, and complete, story of us.