We the Sheeple

Why is it so hard to get people to think? I know it can be hard to believe, but there is a class of people out there who once they form their party loyalty are content to vote the straight party ticket. Do they not care if they are electing idiots or power-mad egomaniacs as long as they are 'our kind of people'? Is the straight party ticket tantamount to absolving oneself of political responsibility? A way of saying, "I don't care what the issues are as long as 'we' (whoever that might be) are in power. Is there a lure to this type of black-and-white thinking that I don't understand? Us or Them, with me or against me? Can someone explain it to me?