Ideologue
I'm an ideologue. I'm never going to support any Republican candidate for anything. The dictionary says an ideologue is someone who adheres to a particular ideology, usually with some negative connotations. Some definitions use the words "blindly partisan," "impractical," "fanatic," "uncompromising," and "dogmatic." But I suspect these negative connotations derive from usage and are not and inherent part of the meaning. I think ideologues are looked down on because they reject reasonable but imperfect solutions to problems in favor of a "my way or the highway" approach.
It seems, however, that people in politics have become increasingly ideological. It feels to me this is driven more from the right than from the left. I was no fan of John Boehner, but it was clear that he was forced out of the Speakership by members on the right who stymied his attempts to achieve consensus and compromise. The 2014 primary defeat of Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader, brought to Congress a representative with a voting record of A and a Liberty Score of 100% from the Conservative Review. And the graph below from VoteView.com, which shows some polarization in both parties, clearly shows much more extreme polarization from Republicans than from Democrats.
It seems, however, that people in politics have become increasingly ideological. It feels to me this is driven more from the right than from the left. I was no fan of John Boehner, but it was clear that he was forced out of the Speakership by members on the right who stymied his attempts to achieve consensus and compromise. The 2014 primary defeat of Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader, brought to Congress a representative with a voting record of A and a Liberty Score of 100% from the Conservative Review. And the graph below from VoteView.com, which shows some polarization in both parties, clearly shows much more extreme polarization from Republicans than from Democrats.
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