Political polarization and the American way

Writer Michael Tomasky argues that political polarization was baked into the American political process from the beginning.

Air Date: February 12, 2019

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Guest: Michael Tomasky

Political partisanship is on display almost every day in Washington — just look at the battles over immigration, health care, taxes, guns. Daily Beast political columnist MICHAEL TOMASKY says the polarization has been around since the beginning and is, in many ways, baked into our representative government. Tomasky tracks the history of political dysfunction and one notable bright spot of bipartisanship from 1945-1980, in his new book, If We Can Keep It: How the Republic Collapsed and How It Might Be Saved. Tomasky comes in to talk about Washington politics past and present and his 14-point plan to tackle partisan politics, which includes ideas like ending gerrymandering, the Senate Filibuster, and the Electoral College.

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