Generally, when people say or imply that a behavior is the "same on both sides", they don't acknowledge that levels of severity can differ. If there are only two choices, and one is less severe, then yeah, someone is voting against their interest, but it's also in their interest to not get it as severely as it could get. However, I agree that a good number of people on all sides vote purely for social issues, (if they don't just vote for their "team" out of tradition) and when they do that, other issues get less consideration.

But I think your point was more that the media and politicians push social issues on both sides to an equal degree, rather than focusing on the economic interests aspect. It's honestly hard for me to tell objectively, but it sure seems to me personally that the narratives pushed on the GOP-supporting media are generated with more desperation than on the other side. Like, at least 20 Republican politicians pushed the idea that kids in schools were encouraged to act like cats, and use the in-school litter boxes. I just can't find that level of desperate, outlandish fabrication from other parties. Of course those 20+ Republicans are in the minority of the party, but I would like to see something similar espoused by 20+ Democrats. Maybe it exists and I just haven't encountered it.