The Absence of Civic Virtue in America

One does not have to be a genius to recognize the obscene rise in partisanship in America today. Our two parties have sprinted for the opposite ends of the political spectrum and staked out a "no man's land" for those moderates in between. Whatever happened to the Conservative Democrats or, even more scarce, the liberal Republicans? We still see some conservative democrats on the state and local levels but they are non-existent on the national level. To show my age, I believe Nelson Rockefeller might have been the last liberal republican. This most recent spectacle, the debate on the debt limit might serve as exhibit A for our rise in partisanship. To be honest, it's simple to see what is behind this debate, we're already looking towards 2012. When one reads the writings of the founding fathers, one constantly comes across this idea of "civic virtue." The belief was quite simple, when a representative casts his vote, it should be based on the simple idea of what is in the best interests of the NATION, not the best interests of the party or local area. I wonder how much more could be accomplished if our current batch of representatives would follow that "ancient" notion?