This is not about things like education or IQ levels, but rather about fundamental decision-making process. There can be people who make their decisions based on emotions but able to think of complex strategies to achieve their emotional goals. At the same time there can be people who base their decision on calculated self-interest but fail to see bigger picture and end up being taken for a ride.
Take for example socialists (modern 21st century Bookchin socialists rather than original 19th century ideology). No matter how much conservatives and liberals point out that socialism failed and their ideology is but a path for misery and pain, socialists are not swayed. That is because they do not make their decisions with their logic and reason but with their feelings instead. Most such socialists probably like Avatar movie and dream of a similar society that is aligned with nature, and fights technology. No matter how much you tell them it's impossible, they will not listen.
Socialists like to tout their education and think they are smarter than MAGA crowd, but no matter how complex and smart arguments they make for their causes, these causes are fundamentally emotional. There is nothing for average American to gain from feeding Africans, helping refugees and migrants. Cold facts of self-interests are simply against this. The only reason socialists care is because their emotions compel them to care, because they feel pity for these people and wish to help them. Other people do not feel any pity for them, so no matter what socialists, say the right will not be swayed. They just can't feel any pity for these people.
The same goes to the opposite side of the divide. No matter how much right cites the problems, refugees and migrants cause, the left is not swayed. That is because lefts sympathize with refugees. So, no matter how much problem, they cause, left is willing to forgive them. Left will go to the end of their wits in rationalizing and justifying their views in order to disguise emotional decisions as rational ones. They are like women who no matter how much she gets burned from going for the wrong man, will still keep repeating the same mistake over and over again. Because they cannot control who they love.
It would be a mistake to call this left emotionalism a compassion. Compassion on an emotional whim is not a compassion but a favoritism. One praised founder of Anabaptism for helping out his enemies in times of need. Average leftist is not like that. No matter how much a Confederate Flag waving Redneck needs and deserves help a lot more than a criminal migrant, a lefty will not help them. Their emotions make them hate Rednecks so no help for them. One can only lament unfairness of the world, irrational emotions of the left favor those who do not deserve it over those who actually do.
Rational self-interest rightists have their own problems, that ironically sometimes make them act against their best interests. Many rightists are too narrowminded to see a bigger picture. For example, when in chess a pawn attacks bishop, you instinctually want to use bishop to take a pawn. It gives you the advantage, pawn attacked first and it's only fair to fight back. So far so good. However sometimes when you look at the bigger picture, you can notice a queen or a rook at the far end of the board, protecting the pawn. With this information in hand the rational changes, now if bishop takes pawn, the queen will take bishop next turn, making it a loss rather than gain. However, queen is on the far end of the board, and many do not notice her until it's too late. Of course, taking a pawn and then get bishop taken by a queen is still better than let pawn take the bishop because you are impressed with pawn's bravery like a leftie would, but a smart move here is to move bishop away, no matter how much you want to take that pawn.
A real-life example of such a proverbial pawn, that always takes right for a ride is taxes that pay for welfare of the lazy. As much as it seems that welfare only helps lefties, that is far from the truth. Meet your local unfriendly neighbourhood Redneck, the one that drives a huge Chevy truck, lives in a trailer, and has confederate flags and KKK symbols all over the place. He looks like the last person to vote democrat, but that is misleading. Reality is that such people are the biggest welfare beneficiaries and if a right-wing candidate says something about taking these benefits away, these guys will not hesitate to vote Dems. When Romney lost to Obama, that was due to that simple fact. That is also why Donald Trump never says anything about taking any welfare benefits away.
Reason why otherwise right-wing redneck will vote for Dems is the same simple self-interest that drives the tax whiners, but in reverse. Just as much as they do not like to lose their hard-earned money in favor of someone who does not work, the redneck too does not want to lose his unearned money, no matter how immoral or unethical it is to live off others. Both making their decisions based on self-interest, difference is that from a different point of view what is this self-interest is changes. Like 6 can look like 9 if you look at it from the opposite side. For a taxpayer self-interest cutting taxes, for welfare recipient its increasing taxes and increasing their welfare benefits. All talk about ethics and moral will sway neither one, not the other. As much as taxpayer was not swayed by arguments that welfare helps those in need, the welfare recipient will not be swayed by arguments like they did not earn these money.
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