From driftglass:
After all, if you just hide the (D) when you talk about a policy proposal, it turns out most Republicans are in favor of a whole lot of things which Democrats have championed. Most of them like the Affordable Care Act (as long as you don’t call it Obamacare) and would even support a single-payer heath care system. A large majority support stricter gun control and registration. Most think Roe v. Wade should be left alone and that the very rich need to pay more in taxes.
So why would these same people keep electing Republican governors and legislatures who (for example) would let 15,000 of their friends and neighbors die every year rather than do something as simple as expanding Medicaid?
Because to the average, dumbass Republican voter, actual policy — what government actually does or does not do — is almost entirely beside the point. Because they only know what they hear on Hate Radio or see on Fox News. So if you go looking for the source of their seemingly inexhaustible rage and hysteria in the details of policy differences between Republicans and Democrats, you might as well be looking for the headwaters of the Nile using a Goody Goody Burger placemat.