We can all agree that we've reached an interesting intersection in American politics where there is almost zero communication between opposing factions. Instead of debating issues, the effort is to demonize leaders of the opposing faction. It is the tribalization of politics.
We see this phenomenom in the third world all the time. The population distrusts, often with very good reason, the central government and instead invests in a tribal identity. Such societies are usually rife with corruption and violence, because tribal loyalties completely overshadow larger concepts of morality, fairness or justice.
Our political parties are facing an existential crisis. Both the radical left and the Tea Partyers are openly contemptuous of the national parties they nominally support. They will accept deviation from ideological orhodoxy only under the most extreme conditions, such as the support for Scott Brown in Mass even though he seems to favor the gay agenda and abortion. Of course, so did Mitt Romney when running for governor of that state.
Such conditions explain the rise of leaders such as Obama and Palin. Neither has the background, experience and record to be a Senator, much less President, but they are skillful at marshalling their tribal supporters and each has qualities that resonate deeply with their tribe. John Edwards and George Bush were similar figures.
Ironically, reforms designed in the best of faith to lessen the influence of party bosses brought us to this point. In the bad old days of smoke-filled rooms, the party bosses and kingmakers at least knew the candidates and their strengths and weaknesses. We got plenty of bad candidates and empty suits and a few war heroes, but in general we avoided the sort of vacuous radicalism Obama has brought. Now we have traded the back rooms for the executive suites of media empires, who can make or break a candidate with favorable coverage or by ignoring them.