...They know this. They aren't stupid (a non-negligible portion at least) The people they can easily pander to don't, for various reasons. Public education has

...They know this. They aren't stupid (a non-negligible portion at least) The people they can easily pander to don't, for various reasons. Public education has been widely dismantled, especially in areas hit by industrial and white flight. Hookworm/malnutrition/lead poisoning are all also legitimately a hell of a fuckin drug. The biggest charade of the past 50 or so years has also been convincing a decent portion of the U.S. that California is some democratic/liberal orgy of a state. It's not. California has historically had and still does have a large republican presence. Sheer ignorance along with cognitive dissonance makes grifting easy as hell.