The answer lies somewhere in between. The R’s have had their stones removed and are deathly afraid to tell the truth about bam and the left out of fear for offending someone. If they actually started doing that unashamedly it would help.
On the other hand, too many people are low information or willfully ignorant and do only care about getting their check. These people can be brought to a harsh reality. At least many of them.
That’s what every new salesman learns the first day in sales training: “People buy on emotion and justify with fact.” It’s true and the astute campaigner who aims for the heart instead of the head will probably win.