Clichés are often true, but not always. Not every cloud has a silver lining, good things sometimes swerve away from those who wait. Likewise, one of the most persistent but deceptive political clichés is that voters don’t like divided parties.
It’s not completely wrong. All else being equal, unity impresses voters more than division. But all else is seldom equal. Party divisions cannot always be avoided. The test is how parties, and especially their leaders, deal with them.