The reason, is that people like you and me pay way more attention to this stuff than your average citizen. Most people in this country are Conservative in nature, if not affiliation.
Politics frankly, is our drug, as much as our morning coffee. We live and breath this stuff, and so do our enemies on the other side of the aisle. Our focus skews our perspective, which is why I like to just stop FReeping and watching TV sometimes, just to get an understanding of what other people are actually thinking about.
While we are worried about all this political garbage, most people are worried about gas prices and mortgages. Fewer and fewer people watch any kind of news at all, and really are getting their news from the Daily Show, Leno and Letterman, until the campaign season really takes off.
Political junkies like us ramp all news up way out of proportion. Most people don't think Republicans are bigoted, nor do they think Liberals hate America. Most people would rather we not talk about our interests at dinner, either.
The best advice I ever got was when Rush said, "just turn off the TV every now and then for a week, and discover a whole different world you never knew existed".
It really is true. We worry way too much about what those rascally liberals are doing. IMHO, they are stupid people who don't know they are stupid. We should leave them to their own devices, and just hide the sharp stuff from them, like you would an infant.