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jack, I share your frustration: I teach at a university, after all! But while I would agree that my faculty colleagues have no hope, the STUDENTS have changed markedly in the last 15 years. There are fewer "radicals" than ever, and perhaps 40% of the student body is "conservative." I saw Bush/Cheney stickers/cups/mugs everywhere. Early in the campaign, there was a "Catholics for Bush" meeting, and lots of kids showed up.

I'm a historian, so I don't get so panicked at these "divides." Americans are ALWAYS divided. No, you didn't see a lot of partisanship in WW II by the GOP . . . but they did hold lots of hearings on "merchants of death." In 1940, Wilkie was buried electorally, but got quite a bit of the pop. vote. In the 1880s, we had almost THIRTY YEARS' worth of close elections, usually decided by a handful of midwestern states, and tensions were very high, esp. in the old Confederacy.