Sure, that's why polling consistently shows the majority of the public wants the parties to "work together", "be more bipartisan", blah, blah, blah. Does that sound like an America that is anywhere near a civil war? I've heard this "we're on the brink of civil war" for my whole life, and what I see is a public that generally rejects any candidate who talks like that. People don't vote for crazy, and they mostly consider that kind of talk crazy. I actually agree with you that the Constitution is being eroded badly, but the public is not there yet - not even close.
Happy warriors win in purple and blue territory - ones that promise to "work with the other side" and offer other such happy talk. They can be very conservative on many issues, but the presentation is important. You also can't run a social conservative warrior in libertine urban areas. So you can cede those places to the enemy, or put the most conservative candidate that CAN win forward and try to make inroads.
I'm in my sixth decade, and have never heard or seen the kind of deep division we have in this country today. No one, and I mean no one, except certified looneys, ever talked about 'undeclared civil war' in decades past.
When you say, "people don't vote for crazy", you're covertly pointing a finger of recrimination at Tea Party conservatives like Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin, who unabashedly stand and fight for our Founding Principles. What you say is disingenuous, because "crazy" is exactly what the left has been voting for, for a long time now.
It appears that "crazy" in your world only applies to patriots and staunch conservatives, who have the temerity to come right out and express their love for America, and their pride in this country's fundamental construction.
Happy warriors win in purple and blue territory - ones that promise to "work with the other side" and offer other such happy talk.
That's disgusting. By way of implication, you're saying that Republican voters prefer squish 'moderates' like Romney, Boehner, McConnell, Cornyn, et al, and that they reject strong voices of conservative principles and American idealism.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Romney just gave Obama four more years on the job because he's one of those "happy warriors" you speak of. He was rejected by the conservative right, who saw too little difference between his liberal record in office, and the Democrat industrial complex.
I find it unbelievable that you've lived through five years of unrelenting Communist destruction, and are still talking politics like it's 1975. Unreal...