You should check out 1896 as an apocalyptic election. 1800 and 1860 were of course huge as well. One of the strengths of our democracy traditionally was that we would pour our energy into politics and elections instead of fighting one another.

I think the two larger problems are human psychology and the state of the world. Humans are motivated more by fear than more noble things. Partisans know it and act accordingly. I think both sides have been excessive. American politics has always moved as a pendulum between the parties.

The state of the world is that we can't get our acts together about Covid or more importantly Climate Change. It is so much easier to pontificate and blame others than to actually do the work of healing and solving real world problems.