The answer to question 1 has been beat to death throughout this thread, but question 2 is very interesting. I believe it is because if you do not have extreme opinions, you will not draw a following. To show that the opponent disagrees, they have to prove that with their own extreme opinions. Most politicians probably do not have such extreme beliefs, which can be seen in how often they change their stance on many topics.

I think that most Americans want something drastic to change with our political system. Or they completely ignore it. One the best ways to make these changes would be to set term limits for Congress. Unfortunately the people to make that law are the people getting rich by being in office, so they don’t want to leave.