Reddit reviews The Power Of The People: Congressional Competition, Public Attention, And Voter Retribution (Parliaments and Legislatures)

Gore won the popular vote by only half a million people.

Not to marginilize their votes, but in a country of 300 million, half a million isn't all that much. Its not the "large margin" you speak of.

Granted, I do believe that there was a mistake in the manner it was handled, and Gore deserved to win, but he wasn't exactly this savior figure who was loved by the entire country, that's simply what we perceive him as after 8 years of Bush.

Also, the phenomenon you're speaking of is party polarization, whereby an area that is heavily democratic will vote in very liberal people, while a heavily republican are will vote in a very conservative person. This is because in the area no one wants to seem out of place, so not supporting the very conservative person in the republican area for example could lead to being ostracized from the community for being "unpatriotic" or something like that.

Sadly, its a trend that is spreading nationwide. So many congressmen live in extremely safe districts because of this, meaning that people that are not moderate in any sense of the word will continue to be elected, leading to a lack of compromise or civility in congress as a whole.

Also, is this the book you're talking about?