Just taking a guess here: the really interesting technical submissions might just appeal to the users who are fond of that subset of tech, but the political one

Just taking a guess here: the really interesting technical submissions might just appeal to the users who are fond of that subset of tech, but the political ones have a broader interest? Or maybe it's that the technical submissions don't really cause the same emotional response (well, barring stuff like Heartbleed, or other serious issues in tech).