I wish it were quite that simple, but the way we (as humans) view and deal with things we like isn’t necessarily the mirror image of the way we view and deal with things we dislike. The energy with which a sports fan boos a team they hate won’t necessarily equal the energy with which they cheer a team they like.
All I’m saying is that whatever evidence we have been able to unearth is decidedly one-sided in what it shows.
I agree. I think the poll mentioned in the OP is evidence that Republicans are quite partisan, but it alone doesn’t mean all THAT much without a meaningful comparison.
A more interesting poll might be one which had questions like “do you support X” and “do you support the congressional Republicans plan to do X”, and then swapping in Democrats for Republicans.
Since I’m sure that both sides are partisan, I’d expect that for each side, they’d agree more with something associated with “their side”, and less with something associated with the other side. Would the effect be stronger among Republicans than Democrats? It would be fascinating to see, and if it wasn’t, that would be strong evidence that my position is incorrect. (Although it’s still not a perfect comparison… I mean, if Democrats dislike congressional Republicans with a dislike factor of 7.3, and Republicans dislike congressional Democrats with a dislike factor of 7.3, but Republicans dislike Obama with a dislike factor of 9.99997 does that mean that they’re equally partisan or not?)
In my opinion, I don’t think it’s Democrats vs Republican. I think that Obama detractors are in a league of their own. There’s a reason the Obama Derangement Syndrome is a thing. Once you demonize a person as much as Obama the black Muslim Kenyan Marxist has been, how can you possibly say “but his immigration ideas are on the mark?”
I’d say your opinion is that 3 is unlikely. You’ve given no reason. Rush Limbaugh’s opinion is that liberals are stupid.
I’d say it’s ridiculous to offer an opinion, with nothing to back it up, and expect others to accept it at face value, especially when the one offering the opinion has something to gain. If you show me some evidence or at least give a well-grounded rationale behind your opinion then I’ll give it more credence.
I have made an argument in this thread as to why I think (3) is unlikely… Democrats and Republicans vary in all sorts of fairly fundamental and cultural ways, as demonstrated by a bunch of things which ARE objectively quantifiable (level of education, rural vs urban, religiosity, etc.). Therefore it would be a surprising coincidence if they ended up at exactly the same level of of partisanness, just as it would be a surprising coincidence if lions and tigers end up having exactly the same top running speed.
Sure, and I have not particularly tried to make that argument in this thread. I don’t expect to have convinced anyone, because I wasn’t actually attempting to convince anyone, although I mentioned a few random individual pieces of something-like-evidence.
But by that same token, you can’t just say “Republicans and Democrats are equally partisan” and expect everyone else to accept that at face value.