General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: We Need 3 Major Parties [View all]Benton D Struckcheon
(2,347 posts)The Strange Death of Liberal England, about how that party fell apart after the House of Lords no longer had a veto over the budget. The Liberals could no longer point at the Lords and say "They're even worse!" (http://www.amazon.com/Strange-Death-Liberal-England-ebook/dp/B005XBAA8I/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1369608378&sr=8-2&keywords=the+strange+death+of+liberal+england) The parallels of the old Liberal Party in the UK with the Democratic Party are pretty amazing. If there's a split in the Dem Party, what you saw in England would happen here: half would go to Labor (whatever the equivalent winds up being called), the other half to the Tories (Republicans). The Democratic Party itself would be reduced to a shadow of its former self.
Also, that book is seriously funny. Great entertainment.
As for the Republicans splitting, nope, never happen. In that book, the Tories threatened civil war if Northern Ireland was made a part of the Irish Republic. Not too dissimilar from the calls you see on the right presently in this country for the same in defense of "gun rights". The right is always threatening to split the country in two (they already did it once) and they are always united around whatever the issue of the day is. They really are willing to tear this country apart if they don't get their way. The left just doesn't have that crazy streak in it, either here or in the UK.