To me they were one of the first examples I picked up on of how bad the Republican vs. Democrat divide is getting in America. They'll use principles to argue a certain stance, but then tear those exact principles to pieces when used to argue a different stance. If it's an issue I haven't looked at before and I don't know who proposed it, I would have no way of knowing where party loyalists would fall on an issue because it all seems so inconsistent compared to the values they claim to believe in.