Are the poles melting?

This blog by Ezra Klein is especially interesting to me, because I love Bill Clinton. I am an Obama fan (shocker, I know), but Bill Clinton is one of my favorite presidents. I also love Hillary, which may contribute a wee bit to my borderline obsession...who knows?

The post's argument is that, in retrospect, Bill Clinton has proven to be a non-polarizing president.  Many of Clinton's policies, though, were definitely more polarizing than Obama's.  Clinton's healthcare initiatives would currently be heavily criticized (and were upon their passage), as many are even more controversial than certain elements of Obamacare.  Additionally, Clinton's tax rates were higher than anything Obama's administration has even proposed thus far, and he passed the legislation for those tax rates very early on in his first term.  It's obvious that during the times he was passing these policies through, the polarization was very high.  Since Clinton is no longer a "threat to the Republican Party", he is no longer polarizing.  Oh, and the economy was awesome during his presidency, too.

What Ezra Klein is arguing here is that this example could very well also be the case for a not-so-polarizing judgement of Obama's policies later in time.  Once he is no longer a threat to the Republican Party, he will not be viewed as controversial or liberal as he is being perceived as now.  This is only true if the economy recovers, mind you.

I love this post, because it gives us an opportunity to attempt to evaluate exactly how much of an impact the media is having on shaping/influencing public opinion.  The fact that the House is controlled by Republicans and the Senate and Presidency are Democratic obviously also contribute to the polarization of the electorate and public opinion as well, but have Bill O'Reilly and Rachel Maddow gotten to us? Has the availability of the new media through social outlets affected our amount of polarization?

What contributes most in my opinion to polarization is how relevant the issues are which are being evaluated.  Obama's policies are more relevant than Clinton's right now, giving them a higher opportunity to be polarizing.  However, why is the polarization so intense? Is the electorate moving to the extremes, while our policies remain within the normal spectrum? I think this may be so. And I have a hunch the media is contributing to it.