One thing I have picked up with American politics is that if 'your' team is in office they can do very little wrong - if the other team has the ball then even the way the president puts his socks on is wrong - it tends to be a fairly simplistic one eyed view
Mk1 - Not only is it a very simplistic view, it is underpinned by the electoral system that only allows the electoral colleges to vote for a Republican or a Democratic candidate (yes, yes, I know if there was enough of a "popular" vote things are different, but that's never happening).
As a consequence politics here are the very definition of the word "Polarized" although over the last 20 or so years, this has shifted to become more bi-polar than polarized. There is no subtlety, no nuance, no understanding that most issues on this planet have degrees, and not absolutes. "If you're not with us you're with the terrorists" is a great example of trying to polarize an issue for party political purposes instead of trying to understand it. But although that one belongs to George W, there are just as many trite, over simplistic banalities spouted by the Democrats every day.
If you can corral the masses into 2 camps - us and them - you're job as a politician just got really easy. Once you know who to woo, you can hate and despise the rest. Of course having multiple political parties and a broad spectrum of philosophies to draw from produces indecision and procrastination at times, but fundamentally it produces more well-rounded and consistent national policies, not the constant flip-flopping tag game of "my dick is bigger than yours" that passes for politics here in the US.
Apologies all, this nonsense really belongs in Jetblast, away from the more cerebral aspects of life.