They didn’t though. That's how they lost influence in the first place.
They did in a way. Let me explain.
The way stupid works for righties is different from how it is for lefties. A righty will take an extremely principled stance over something absolutely fucking retarded or for equally retarded reasons, whereas for most stupid lefties, they either won't show any principles whatsoever or they'll lock onto one entirely for emotional reasons.
A side effect of this is that a stupid righty will try to put things into a matrix of logic that, at least to them, makes sense, including making use of new information or changing their position slightly based on new facts. It'll be a fucking stupid matrix, and the perspective will be warped, so if you don't actually know what the fuck is going on in their heads, it will just look like lines and dots, but with a good understanding of what they're trying to do, you can start to piece together why they think that way. Understand that, and you can make a bit of headway with them, and even get them to own up to flaws in their own positions if you're respectful and careful about it.
Meanwhile, a stupid lefty goes in without even trying to properly understand the mind map of their opponents. It's like the political version of the breakfast question with them. They base a lot of their decisions based on personal emotional response, so they're not as logical - there's still an underlying matrix, but if you don't know a lot about the idiot in question, you're flying blind. They're much more likely to ignore new data or alter a position when they are proven to be wrong, and way more likely to be an asshole about it because their positions are way more likely to be based on emotion.
Putting it differently: If you can get a dumb righty, even a religious nutter, into a discussion where they agree to a general set of rules, odds are good you can make something resembling headway, and even if you can't get them to see fault in their positions, you can get them to admit the point of your own perspective, and sometimes, even make headway with them.
Dumb lefties will generally not agree to enter the discussion in the first place, but if they do, they'll try to find wiggle room around every single rule you've laid down, and you are infinitely less likely to make anything regarding headway with them.
Putting it differently: I have had
vastly more successful conversations with bible-thumpers who believe stupid shit than I have anyone in the Social Justice sphere or whatever the fuck sphere Dev inhabits, and barring unforeseen circumstances, that is not something I expect will change in my lifetime.
