Well, the disdain for 'normal' people from certain intellectual types can't help much. If you go around treating people like they're stupid and complaining abo

Well, the disdain for 'normal' people from certain intellectual types can't help much. If you go around treating people like they're stupid and complaining about how their fears or worries are due to being 'bigoted', then of course they'll vote for people who treat them better (regardless of intelligence). A politician who at least pretends to emphasise with people he or she might disagree with is a lot more electable than one that looks down on people with contempt. On a different note, there's also the obvious factor that a less well thought out answer can be a lot simpler than a complicated one, and appear to be an 'easy' solution to a difficult issue. It's one of the reasons why literal facists and extremists tend to do well in bad economic/social times, because they reduce complex issues down to 'there is some other group that's making everything difficult'.Contrast that to the alternative, lots of diplomacy, improvements to various social systems, etc etc.