why so partisan?

On my facebook account, I'm listed as a moderate, and appropriately so. Well, actually no. Perhaps a moderator might be a more apt term to describe the way in which I interact with politics. Though my opinions are not nearly so shifty and poll-dependent as many of our political leaders, I often find that I emphasize conservative issues and counterpoints while with Democrats, and liberal viewpoints while with Republicans. Each group, in its sincerest and most admirable form, should be represented fairly to "the other side." It would be nice to have "the other sides"; here's to wishful thinking. I placate my liberal friends by saying that many Republicans recognize and care about the same problems that they do--conservatives just believe in different solutions. To my conservative family and friends, I expose the policies of death and destruction that our "pro-life" President has so readily implemented during his term--Iraq and torture, for example. Almost everyone I talk to about these kinds of things, by the way, is a person of faith. All sincerely claim to allow their faith to influence their politics, as it should; of course, all are partisan, if not rabidly so.
Because this is a source of frustration to me, I eagerly purchased and devoured (no, not literally, you fool!) Jim Wallis' book God's Politics whose premise has become widely known through the '04 newspaper ads that boldly proclaimed: "God is not a Republican...or a Democrat." It turns out that its premise should have been, at least in my estimation, something like: "Christians can be Democrats too." Wallis slaughters the policies of the Right without mercy, and I found myself agreeing with him a majority of the time. And like any naive believer-of-book-premises, I sat waiting, confidently at first, for him to fulfill the promises of the cover and mercilessly shred the policies of the Left. This time never came. His criticisms of the Democratic party were not really policy related. Apparently the only thing they need to do is juice up their speeches with a little Jesus. If Democrats would only recognize the place of faith within the public arena, within social movements, then, yeah, sure, God would be a Democrat.
I closed Wallis' book a little more liberal and a lot more disillusioned with Christians and politics. Just when I thought I had discovered someone, a movement even, of Christians who weren't interested in partisanship, I just found a minority group who flies under the blue flag.
Now, I understand that when it comes right down to it, we must all choose "a side." When I cast my vote in November, I cannot vote for "neither." And I cannot custom-design a candidate. In the end, we all have to make a definitive, and yes, partisan, decision, based upon which candidate most completely meets our standards in regard to policy, experience, and character.
It is not this that I find most problematic; I'm a realist and try to be pragmatic. Some Christians will vote as Democrats, some as Republicans, unless we get a sweet new viable third party (unlikely)--this is the reality of the world we live in. But I wish that our discussions about politics were markedly non-partisan. There are things that Christians should care about that Democrats don't, and things that Christians should care about that Republicans don't. These issues go beyond merely peppering your policy speeches with religious language. It seems that once good, church-going folk select their party line, they focus on the issues that their party gets right in relation to traditional interpretations of Scripture, and are mostly indifferent to the ones that their party has royally messed up over the years. Why can't Christian Republicans admit the incongruence between the war in Iraq and biblical teaching on war and violence? Why are some so zealous to endorse what we have done there? Why are Christian Republicans uncomfortable about addressing poverty within a political context? Why are Christian Democrats closed to the possibility that a large, socialist government is unsafe and ineffective? That the welfare system may not equal "taking care of the poor"? Why don't any Christians at my liberal church recognize abortion as a significant social, if not political, issue? If our core committment is to the teachings of Christ, Christians should be prepared to discuss and address issues as Jesus people first, Republicans or Democrats second.
Healthier, more honest exchanges about political issues among Christians could result not in landslide victories for one party or another, but actual change in the priorities and policies of our politicians. If Red Christians retreat to one corner clutching their two issues, yelling, "These are the most important!" and Blue Christians go to the other with their two issues shouting the same, we'll get to...well, pretty much where we are right now. Jesus really isn't a Republican or a Democrat, and if we can get past some of the partisanshit, er, you know, and dialogue about all of the issues, regardless of the party line, we might start reaching real solutions.