We might also look at what groups we belong to that are Big Tent, and tend to include all stripes and thoughts.  It used to be that major religions were like that.  You could be a very liberal or very conservative Catholic, within certain bounds, at a time when many social issues had not ripened to the point where public policy challenged the faith.  Growing up, Protestants tended to be more liberal.  But now we select our religious affiliations,  and often these are more narrowly partisan.  The evangelical movements seem to be like this.  You don't grow up in them as much as select them.  Just in the same way we tend to select the news sources we like and believe. We are fragmented.  No tents are big, we live in those smaller pup tents.  I suppose sports does unite us, because they emphasize a sense of place or college.  Maybe we are ALL independents in desperate need of belonging.