"Government" isn't one big monolithic thing. Most of the people who work in government have nothing to do with elections or policies; they just do their jobs, year after year, like other people do their jobs. That includes teachers and scientists and air traffic controllers and police and firefighters and park rangers and on and on.
Funny that you avoid national news and watch local news. I mostly stopped watching local news 15 or so years ago because it's nothing but death and destruction, shootings and fires and crime. I will watch the weather report and that's about it.
However, I often watch the Today show in the morning and NBC Nightly News in the evening. Cable news is way too frantic for my liking. I only watch it if something major happens, like the shooting in Ottawa today. When I was on the board of the local League of Women Voters, reading a daily newspaper was one of the expectations of board members - so we would be informed on current events.
Nice people don't necessarily have the knowledge they seem to
Just because someone believes something strongly doesn't make it true.