One nation, two camps: The most ideological election in years

By Niall Stanage - 10/31/11 06:00 AM ET

The battle lines of the 2012 election will be the most sharply ideological in at least a generation.

President Obama and his Republican opponent will present vastly different visions of the role of government, how an economy best prospers and, still more fundamentally, what kind of nation the United States should be.

Divisions between the parties on these scores are nothing new. But they have grown deeper and more central to the political debate for many reasons.

The Great Recession, the growing perception among Americans of all groups that the nation is on the wrong track and the fear that the long-revered middle class is shrinking [see The Hill Poll, page 1] are all factors.

So are the wounds suffered and inflicted in pitched battles over Obama’s healthcare reform law and economic stimulus packages, and the emergence of the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movements.

[b]Last week, First Lady Michelle Obama laid out her vision of America in a speech in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.: “Will we honor that fundamental American belief that I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sister’s keeper, and if one of us is hurting, we’re all hurting?â€