What animates U.S. politics?

Here is a nice discussion by William Voegeli re whether class warfare animates U.S. politics. The author says "no". It did not fly in the recent election.

This morning's WSJ includes "In California, a Road to Recovery Stirs Unrest ... State Engineers Sue Over a Highway to Golden Gate Bridge, Protesting Foreign Investors." California's roads are in awful shape and the state's leaders have redirected highway funds to all the wrong projects. What to do? Attract private investors? Attract capital to California that otherwise would not come here? Not exactly.

What does animate politics? My students and I owe a lot to Bruce Yandle because Baptists and Bootleggers nicely illustrates public choice economics. But are either of these interest groups native or foreign? It seemingly makes a big difference.