'Eve of destruction' politics feeds alienation

-- USA Today: Columnist Michael Medved: "While most people go about their business -- working hard, enjoying their families, struggling to pay the bills and planning to celebrate the holidays -- activists try to raise money or snare votes by announcing The-End-Of-American-Civilization-As-We-Know-It. ... No wonder voters feel increasingly embarrassed to identify as either Democrats or Republicans, preferring the designation 'independent' or, most likely, uninvolved -- feeling understandably alienated from the desperation that sets the tone in the political process."