Partisan politics.

"Get a life", Partisan politics have been around since we became a nation. That was 1776, for you that can't remember when.  President George Washington said in his farewell address in 1796, "Partisan Politics agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms." It "kindles the animosity of one part against another (and) foments occasionally riot and insurrection." We haven't changed much!.
Opponents of Andrew Jackson even dared to call him a "jackass". He is often credited as the source of the donkey as the Democratic Party's symbol. Remember this "Politicians on both side of the Isle are in it for only one reason. the money" They don't make that money in the form of Salaries or Benefits, Its the Pundits, the Lobbyists, the Corporations, and the Special Interest Groups that pay your congressman.
There are two sides in this battle, Us and Them.  If your congressman doesn't vote the way you want him to, throw the bum out! And keep throwing them out of office until they hear you!