The difference is deception, lies, secrecy, AND the amount of money behind it.
Look at the Koch network, Mercer, Adelson, Murdoch, and how much they spend on politics and related disinformation (Heritage, ALEC, SPN, Cato/Koch Fnd, NRA, Americans for "Prosp", Reason, Federalist, Breitbart, NY Post, WSJ ed, Fox, Bos Herald, Wash Ex, IJR, Daily Caller, Prager "U" etc etc. - all controlled by billionaires, and that's leaving out Limbaugh and Hewitt and Levin who are just after personal profit)
There is a huge huge difference between the sides. And that difference gives a huge advantage to one group: billionaires who can use their money to lobby to retain more wealth from the economy.
The billionaires who control what news the public sees aren't limited to the right end of the political spectrum though. Let's see if the data "leveraging" the Obama campaign was so proud about makes the mainstream news shall we? Maybe then I'll start to question my stance.
There is a huge huge difference between the sides. And that difference gives a huge advantage to one group: billionaires who can use their money to lobby to retain more wealth from the economy.