This message was self-deleted by its author

[Hortensis]

173. Okay. Sorry for misunderstanding. Actually, though,

normally our parties are very different regarding taking fire from their own side.

Right now the Reps are unusually fractured, courtesy of the Kochs' extremist Freedom caucus's intransigence. But even now the Rep Party is, as it always has been, authoritarian, each division run top-down by its leaders. It members more normally fall in as a single big group--the right's big advantage of course--to support their leaders' decisions.

Of course, Democrats are very different. Liberals especially don't do authoritarianism. And left-wing radicals in every century, whatever the party name they belong to, always try (and fail) to take over and run things "right." Pelosi's job hasn't always been likened to herding cats for nothing, and, as you say, trying to minimize and deal with internal attacks by forming successful coalitions is a normal part of the job.