Question for age 40+ members plz 10 pts?

Has bipartisanship always been this bad or is it a more recent thing. It seems nearly every politician votes straight down party lines, and if they don't its like OMGWTF???? Average people seem to be highly politicized too. Whenever I ask someone how they choose their votes for local elections, they always go by their party affiliation, even if they have no idea who those people are, what their beliefs are, etc. Here on yahoo ans, it becomes 10x worse, its a us vs them mentality liberals vs conservatives. in between are the moderates as the majority, but with the minority voice.