it takes some effort for me not to assume they are putting on airs...they may well feel that those who do pronounce it correctly are a little bit stuffy

Well, that's just inverse snobbery really, isn't it?

Point taken, though, nunclage - you shouldn't really judge people by what you consider mispronunciations, any more than you should judge them by accent, spelling, handwriting, dress, hairstyle, blah blah.

But the fact is, we do.

This can mislead us in ways that may suit a politician down to the ground, but those misconceptions could equally well destroy the politician's career. It's part of the job to be able to tell the difference.