The problem with both parties in this country is that they want it all and refuse to give up on anything. This is what leads to the polarization. You look at the previously progressive coalitions, they included a lot of working class voters whose views on a variety of issues were shall we say not exactly progressive, but god damn they loved their unions, hated the banks and knew they had to "Vote Democrat to live like a Republican".
Now the Democratic Senator from West Virginia is complaining about inflation and calling buy union provisions un-American. You think Robert Byrd talked like that in the 1970s?
Somewhere along the line, all of the red state Dems became Senators for Wal-Mart and all of the blue state Democrats started leading with woke. Its not even a case of them opting to vote on culture instead of the economy, since the local Democrats are literally bought and paid for.
The above is, almost in its entirety, the result of the parties becoming more ideologically pure. Conservative voters no longer become part of the Democratic Party, not even in the South. Liberal voters are no longer entering the GOP, not even in suburbia. Differences between liberals and differences between conservatives are all hashed out within their party's framework, but there is little overlap between the parties.
In that sense, there has never been much real "bipartisanship". It was moderate and liberal Republicans that provided Democrats with their majorities. It was conservative Democrats that produces ideological majorities in a number of Congresses during the 60 out of 64 years of straight Democratic control of the House (54 of 64 years in the Senate) prior to 1994.
To the broader point of the thread: How can the Democratic Party hope to make the kind of inroads into middle class America and small town America when it intends to pursue policies that will reduce their standard of living? In the name of climate change, Democrats propose policies which will drive the cost of gasoline to the point where it will significantly affect the family budgets of rural and small-town voters, who use their own vehicles more? In the name of "antiracism", Democrats advocate infusion of CRT concepts into educational curriculum that seek to delegitimize the accomplishments and standing of the Middle Class and Working Class which, for all its faults, are the people that actually do the work of America. Democrats have excoriated forcible responses to violent protests of leftists (while being OK with cancelling the 4th and 8th Amendments with regards to J6ers) with no regard for their safety of life, limb, and property. Why should those concerned with personal safety find solace in a political party who's attitude toward the safety of the property and homes of ordinary Americans in the face of rioting leftists is downright cavalier?
The majority of Democrats these days are either wholly dishonest on this issue or entirely intimidated by the Far Left of the party, which holds more sway within the party now than at any point in my lifetime. They are not advocates for the well-being of the middle class and working classes. If the suburbs swung sharply to the GOP this year, or if rural areas now vote monolithically Republican, it's not because they are convinced that the GOP is on their side, but it IS because they HOPE they'll be on their side at least somewhat? The Democratic Party has given these people the back of their hand, and while they are perhaps not of sufficient intellectual prowess to be given a full scholarship to Yale, they were smart enough in high school to know when their boyfriend or girlfriend was dumping them and they are smart enough now to know when one of the major political party's attitude toward them is varying degrees of "You suck!".
