And there's a lack of an actual left in the media. No idea why people keep parroting that the media is leftist. It's not. Big media has a very blatant pro-corporate bias, and they're quite proud of that.
The semantics and bullshit around "social issues" like abortion or LGBT rights is just that - semantics and bullshit intentionally amplified to keep people focused on the wrong thing.
There are two nearly identical sides, as you rightly point out. Just like political parties, where there's the pro-corporate party that's OK with minorities, and the super-pro-corporate party with a little religion mixed in.