I come from a large family. All Catholics and Democrats. From the steel mills and coal mines of central PA. They were not stupid. They vote their pocket book.
However since the ascendancy of the loony left most are now conservatives. "Reagan Democrats" if you will. There are exceptions though. My uncle is a retired school teacher. He taught American History and he isn't stupid...Masters Degree in education. And he's a flaming liberal.
We have had many conversations over the years on politics. What I came to understand about liberalism (he is a Marxist and active in the Democratic party) is that it's not about logic, reason and problem solving . It's essentially a pose. They need to feel good about themselves. That they are the moral ones while conservatives, America and capitalism are evil. He actually told me this in so many words!
I had him dead to rights on an issue one time using reason and logic and he just gave up and looked to the ceiling and said...."it's a holistic thing". I responded.."it's merely a pose". That sent him into the vapors and he responded..."what's wrong with posing?...more people should pose".
He and his wife then moved to Portland Ore, a liberal enclave, to be with the like minded.
The only thing I ever say to a Democrat is:
Gore lost, deal with it.
My folks are Reagan Democrats. The others are flaming. All are very smart, college graduates and I have no trouble having an intellectual discussion with any of them. However, it's not "stupidity", but it's "intellectual laziness". If they put the same mental effort into their politics as they do in their careers most would probably turn conservative. I don't think any of them think about politics much accept what they get spoon fed from the MSM or NPR or the local newspaper.