Review and Reflection on “Why We’re Polarized” by Ezra Klein

Let’s state the obvious — the title of this book was all I needed to draw me in. Add in the that you have an incredible columnist and political mind, and that’s just bonus. I’m especially interested in the topic given my own personal and complicated history with politics.

To say that the nation is polarized comes as a shock to probably no one. But the better question is why? And that’s what Klein dives into. The book is well worth the investment of time for such an important question. And Klein does not disappoint in his analysis and thoughts on the subject. Some of those thoughts might come as a surprise. But there’s reasons for what he says. The key is that polarization, in and of itself, is not wholly a bad thing. And likewise, a non-polarized environment isn’t wholly a good thing on its own. It depends on what happens with those things.

Klein’s introduction captured attention right away by looking at what didn’t happen in the 2016 election — the thing that most people expected would happen: a Hillary Clinton win. “What’s surprising about the 2016 election results isn’t what happened. It’s what didn’t happen. Trump didn’t lose by 30 points or win by 20 points. Most people who voted chose the same party in 2016 that they’d chosen in 2012. That isn’t to say there was nothing at all distinct or worthy of study. Crucially, white voters without college education swung sharply toward Trump, and their overrepresentation in electorally key states won him the election. But the campaign…