I think it's easier to understand the Pat Browns of the world's musings, and there are many Pat Browns, if you think of them as people who spend their days listening to right wing agitprop on a half-broken radio. (in his case, the broken radio being his brain receptors.)

But the Pats of the world hear enough between their mental static that they can quote bits and pieces of the latest buzz points, while getting even most of those wrong. Pat himself is hampered by the fact that he understands nothing beyond his own animus and 'GOP good, Democrat bad,' all the while stroking his greasy chin and thinking of himself as a keen student of the political landscape.

To say that he and the legions like him are beneath contempt is overstating their value.