[drchewbacca]

I think how systems are setup does matter though.

For example if you are running for a congressional seat which is 50% republican voters and 50% democrats I would imagine that being a moderate centrist is probably a relatively good strategy.

If the seat is 80% one side then probably you want to be much more extreme in that direction because what the other 20% thinks doesn't matter so much.

However I agree, the internet was meant to make us all open minded and tolerant and yet has had the opposite impact.