We rely on the ability of citizens to make wise decisions. And yet we are endowed with a citizenry that is far from wise and sometimes even stands firmly against developing critical thinking skills in the next generation.

What we're left with is trying to influence citizens to do the right thing through emotional arguments that obscure the real issues because a broad swath of citizens "can't handle the truth". Both parties have to resort to this because laying out a well-reasoned argument not only won't be sufficiently persuasive -- it will often backfire and engender passionate opposition.