There's a lot of things you can "both sides" but only one side is undermining democracy because their positions are unpopular.
Why such unpopular options can make the cut is people don’t care about issues equally. When a significant minority care a lot about one issue they get patched together with other such groups and you can get elected even if most people disagree with the majority of what you stand for.
Over time identity politics eventually confuses things as people constantly supporting one party tend to adopt the stances of that party. This gets interesting when parties swap position on some issue.
When asked if pro-choice/pro-life, Americans are pretty evenly split.[1]
So as per the OP’s comment, which issues are so strongly supported that only party clearly supports them?
Gun control? No.
Welfare reform? No.
Higher spending? No.
I’m genuinely curious.
60% think gun laws should be more strict, 11% think they should be less strict.
Welfare reform and lower spending are not strictly Republican platforms. Reform isn’t a specific policy decision. Also, Republican administrations have seen some of the largest spending increases. Being a believer in small government, free markets, and zero debt I don’t have a clear party favorite.
EX: I firmly believe there should be zero subsides for any industry, as such rebates for installing solar is a bad idea. Flat carbon tax and let the market decide, if “clean” coal can win then it wins.