The political temperature seems at a boiling point. Online, on TV, even in our living rooms, we see constant political conflict over matters both consequential and frivolous. A recent New York Times article sought to pinpoint what exactly divides us. As it points out, partisanship involves deep differences of principle. But it notes other distinctions as well: Our divide, for instance, extends to markers of identity, particularly defining ourselves in distinction from our political opponents.

This analysis needs at least one more point of comparison: temperament. We are witnessing a sorting of the electorate between two dispositions: a Frank Party and a Polite Party.