Political coalitions are more or less ideological.  On the less ideological side, they may be held together by alliances of convenience, whose common cause may be more dislike of the other side than broad agreement on a range of issues. Or their members may share a key sentiment, like ‘keep government small’, but for different reasons, e.g., pro-business, anti-bureaucracy, pragmatism, efficiency, spreading prosperity and well-being, separation of church and state, distrust of do-gooders, freedom from coercion or interference, etc. As allies in a cause, they may become sympathetic to other points of view within their coalition, but that is different than embracing a common ideology.

The more ideological a group, the stronger their convictions about how the world is and ought to be. The more ideological, the more Manichean their worldview – that is, the more they see things as a stark choice between good and evil.  The more ideological, the more their rhetorical style will be characterized by overstatement:

  1. Exaggerate how awful things are now
  2. Exaggerate how good things will be if we prevail
  3. Exaggerate how bad things will be if they prevail

And understatement:

  1. Downplay how good things are now
  2. Downplay the potential harm if we prevail
  3. Downplay the potential good if they prevail

Extreme ideology promises utopia but warns of dystopia. Things will be heaven if we win but hell if the other side wins.