I would even go as far as to say that people who have upvoted previously on non political works, (creative pieces) will no longer upvote you, merely because of political expression and personal differences of that specific perspective..

I think you are right. A lot of people judge the content on the person rather than the other way around yet, they don't really know the person which ties into your "..and I think not being totally truthful can help."

Meh. we all have our own road, rewarded or not.