This is the first year I can recall in which the two political parties appear to be so staunchly polarized. In years past, primary candidates would appeal to their political party supporters by addressing left, or right-wing agendas, but by the time the main event rolled around, they would shore in their messages with more of a middle-ground flavor.

This year, however, we have seen the opposite. Candidates in both parties appeared to be fairly middle-ground during the primary season, but recent weeks have seen both sides moving more towards a factious and polarized campaign stance.

My first indication of this shift was the Sarah Palin VP pick for the McCain campaign. Palin is a staunch NRA supporter, she opposes gay marriages without pause, and has been coined by media pundits as a “right wing neo conservative”. Not only is the press playing this position, but Palin herself is espousing publically her less than centric ideology, almost wearing it as a badge of honor.

In the Barack Obama camp one has seen similar messages. Likening himself to a Martin Luther King-type campaign, his message has been “bring me your huddled masses”, which has enlivened the youth and brought minorities to his camp in droves.

The final indicator of this party polarization, however, came to me while watching the political party national convention video feeds. The camera operators, in both cases, made obvious and significant efforts at making sure to capture all “minority” groups represented at the convention. This may not seem like anything unusual, but it is significant in this case.

At the Democratic party convention one views a sea of minority groups, and a camera operators’ continuous close-up of whites huddling within the masses. At the Republican party convention, just the opposite – with cameras panning in on the small number of minorities in attendance, sprinkled strategically throughout a sea of white faces and cowboy hats.

What does this mean for our political future? Of course it would be far too early to speculate with any certain accuracy, but one could surmise the beginning of a very tumultuous political arena in the near future as these polarized groups become more and more distant, and the “middle ground” becomes less and less easy to recognize within either group.

Certainly a “demographic us versus them” mentality, much like the “haves versus the have nots” of the past, is likely to develop. This polarization, however, has far reaching implications, and will certainly shape the future of our political landscape.