American heat

There's something that doesn't fail to surprise me when reading the American newspapers or the numerous blogs that American citizens devote to the domestic politics: the ferocity each side seems to have in store for the opposite camp.

Wow! Looks like there's no lost love between the Dems and the Republicans. One may think it's quite normal that on this particular field when points of view diverge there's some heat to be expected but really, to this point of antagonism...

Of course, as a Frenchman what do I know about American politics? But if I try to compare with the traditional opposition between right and left in Europe, only far leftists would be so vindictive against far rightist, and conversely.

But these two extremes amount to about 10% of the voters in France whereas Democrats and Republicans make about, say, 90% of the voters in the US.

Is this virulence a good and faithful image of the American national mentality when it comes to debating and exchanging ideas? Or more simply is the pattern of thoughts so different that no comparison can be made between the way Europeans and Americans deal with their respective domestic concerns?