I do not understand. In any normal country (i.e. one with a true parliamentary system) a small party's wet dream is to enter into a coalition with a large party to form a government. That means COOPERATION between a small party and a large party.
In the US, which arguably has the least democratic political system among developed nations, a small party's need to cooperate with a large one is even greater, because absent a proportional representation system, a small party will not even register on a political radar screen by itself, let alone form a government. What we see, however, is exactly the opposite - small parties trying to piss off the large ones as much as they can. This appears to be self-defeating behavior, because in addition to reducing the small party's chance of getting near the halls of power to nil, it also alienates its potential allies.
Is there anything I am missing here, or - putting it mildly - thinking strategically is not the strongest point of American politics, especially its left wing?
wojtek