Wise observations, Anon.....and it proves why it is essential to elect Democrats to the senate and house and as governors, as there is no other way to make the gridlock vanish.  If one must vote Republican, try and find one who is proven to work across the aisle for the good of the people, please.  There is, in the recent issue of the New Yorker, and thorough and complete analysis of the "red states" and how so many, once "blue" with Democratic support, counties and states have taken on the Trump mantra of "things are so, so bad in this country."  It speaks of how the Dem party abandoned the working class, it's foundation, for the Dem elite, and the GOP tried to pick-up the disaffected but hadn't a clue how to do that given their being in bed with the wealthy, and that chasm gave rise to the radicals and enraged citizens who joined the moral majority, Christian Coalition, Tea Party and the birther racist movement.  HRC is going to HAVE to get back to that core group, with JOBS.