I, for one, would gladly enjoy having to pay for the insurance policy in the form of taxes out of my paycheck to cover the stupidity of having a master key system in place, not to mention when the premiums skyrocket after said key gets stolen and all of our iPhones get breached. /s
That's exactly the point. Apple agreeing to their demands in exchange for a reasonable insurance of the potential risks would force the FBI to reconcile their unreasonable demands with the public.
I would imagine that the biggest cheerleaders of the FBI's side in the general public are Republicans. Can you imagine them ever supporting this?