I started to skim since it was quite long but the one thing i wanted to question was the specific use of party affiliation to do the study. They said "people in the middle are not included" but so often the media creates this imaginary class of people who are "independents" and places them between democrats and republicans and calls that "moderate". I don't know if that's what happened here but it seems potentially likely.

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The people they used who are part of a party are actually pretty weird. I find anyone in the modern day who says they are a D or R as really out of step with the vast majority of people. Most people who are party loyalists are usually liberal/Neoliberal AND Neocon warhawks. All the other people who are some type of populist are then either progressive or conservative and specifically NOT "in the middle"

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It actually makes sense that people who self label as D it R can not date because part of the partisan game is that they are extremely aligned on most issues of corporate power and foreign policy but invent an existential crisis over some social issues so that the followers will fight to the extreme and come out to vote.

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I personally would be fine dating a person who is political but be really suspicious if the person was a party loyalist.