Not just politics, everyone has to be actively engaged with the process because it runs contrary to instincts.

One time I saw a room full of zoned out world-class scientists do this exact thing: reject the heavily vetted good option and accept the bad alternative because in the back of their heads they were just counting up positive attention and negative attention. The leader of the group realized what was going on, swung the conversation around again, re-framed things on more even footing, and people came to their senses.

Still, it was a pretty stark reminder that we're all human and prone to misusing the "attention survey" shortcut if the group is even slightly disengaged.