Perfect Political Alignment Is a Red Flag

Nobody agrees with everything. Not a spouse. Not a best friend. Not even the version of themselves from five years ago. Yet people wear political parties like team jerseys and defend every play, even the ugly ones. Especially the ugly ones. The reaction feels automatic. It sounds trained.

Political identity now behaves like a personality. I’m a Democrat. I am a Republican. I am a liberal. Then there’s I am MAGA. Labels replace thinking. Allegiance replaces scrutiny.

Once someone picks a side, the job becomes defending it at all costs.

You are not a political party. You are an entity. Act like one!

One party cannot possibly represent the nuanced beliefs of 150 million people on immigration, healthcare, education, foreign policy, criminal justice, environmental regulation, tax structure, and hundreds of other issues. The probability of genuine unanimous agreement approaches zero.

What happened to agree to disagree?

Intelligence does not require agreement. It requires attention. The ability to hear an argument without adopting it reflects discipline, not weakness.

Partisan absolutism has flattened public discourse.

The most reliable yes men in politics are not elected officials. They are civilians who defend parties with a level of devotion the parties never return. Voters excuse policies that raise their rent, cut their healthcare, or erode labor protections because the harm arrives wrapped in the right language. They rationalize student debt policies they will never escape. They defend tax structures that benefit donors they will never meet. Even when a vote goes against their material interests, their defense is absolute.

Watch Republicans who championed fiscal responsibility suddenly go silent when Trump added $8.4 trillion to the national debt. Lindsey Graham called Trump a "race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot" in 2015, then became one of his most loyal defenders. Watch Democrats who demanded accountability for family separation at the border stay quiet when Biden continued using Title 42 to expel migrants, carrying out more expulsions than Trump. Ilhan Omar condemned endless wars while voting for military spending bills.

And yet.

Agreement with every decision a political party makes defies credibility. Parties operate through coalitions, compromises, and power plays. They legislate imperfectly. They respond to donors. They trade favors. They fail. Expecting ideological purity from any large institution ignores how politics functions. Believing a party aligns perfectly with personal values requires selective blindness.

A yes person is an oxymoron. A person has opinions, convictions, the ability to disagree. "Yes" requires none of that. It's automation, a reflex. The phrase itself is the problem: one half cancels out the other. Real people weigh tradeoffs. They support some policies and oppose others. Yes-people just echo whatever their party says, contradictions and all.

The middle ground exists on most issues, but acknowledging it has become politically toxic. Compromise equals weakness. Nuance equals disloyalty. The structure rewards obedience and punishes independent thought.

Social media accelerated the decay. It feeds outrage and certainty. Opponents stop being wrong and start being dangerous. Disagreement morphs into moral threat. Over time, people defend positions they would have mocked years earlier, because conceding anything feels like siding with the enemy.

Critical thinking now sounds like nostalgia.

Politics should not feel like religion. It should not require faith. Skepticism belongs everywhere, especially toward those claiming to represent your interests. The party does not love you. It needs your vote.

@Santitos

@salinasmariasantos

Copyright © 2026 Maria Santos Salinas for FRONTeras.

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