Affluent Voters and Liberalism
November 11, 2008 9:18 am American Politics, Canadian Politics, Economics and FinanceIn an analysis of the last US election Politico notes:
…President Clinton got 38 percent of the vote among those making over $100,000. This year Obama earned 49 percent of that vote. He also got 52 percent of a new polling category — those making over $200,000 a year who were no longer among the top 1 percent of earners, as they had been in past elections, but were now the top 6 per cent…
But 69 percent of all Americans in polls I conducted in recent years now also call themselves “professionals,” a new class transcending the old class labels or working or middle class or the wealthy. They have white-collar jobs requiring higher education and are earning more than ever before. Because of layoffs and business scandals of recent years, they have become increasingly embittered toward the corporate cultures that would have otherwise been their natural home base…
These higher educated voters generally believe more in science than religion, in the interconnectedness of the world, and in pragmatism over ideology. They see us all living in a new world and are watching their kids enter it taking new economy kinds of jobs in places increasingly far away from home…
One of the key factors that has transformed this class of “professionals” is the increasing government regulation, which has led to increase in requirements for lawyers, accountants and other assorted hanger-ons. They do not add value to any process, but serve as leeches and parasites, who take a tiny bite out of production. Lawyers in US are a solid Democratic constituency as they know where the money comes from. An increasing number of professionals are catching on to this, as government spreads its tentacles. This is merely an extension, in a roundabout way, of the majority taxing the rich minority or majority relying on government for their welfare.
Update: Nov 12, 2008
A post at The Futurist updates the vote by income statistics.
A Marxist would say after looking at the statistics for those making over $200,000 and those making less than $15,000: “Obama has united the Proletariat and the Bourgeois. “
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Arran Gold
bob :
Date: November 11, 2008 @ 12:43 PM
The professional/affluent ridings in Toronto of Forest Hill and Rosedale do the same.
Remember what Don Henley sang;
Out on the road today, I saw a DEADHEAD sticker on a Cadillac
A little voice Inside my head said, “Don’t look back. You can never look back.”
philosoraptor :
Date: November 11, 2008 @ 6:58 PM
The conservatives, on the other hand, get the idiotic, uneducated members of the working class that don’t realize when they’re being used, and the filthy uber-wealthy class (top 0.5%) that are more than happy to do the using. And…everyone is white. And religious.
Oh yeah, you guys are really a big tent party. That base is just blowing up for you.
Maxwell Wolf :
Date: November 12, 2008 @ 5:20 AM
philosoraptor,
That is a profound analysis but hasn’t Marx been dead for a long time, in theory and in practise? If doing honest hard work makes one “idiotic, uneducated” then so be it. As for the “uber-wealthy class”, you might want to go out and research who really is the bourgeoisie. If you do, you will find that it is primarily the public and private pension funds.
philosoraptor :
Date: November 12, 2008 @ 7:25 AM
Hey jackass: I work my ass off and I’ve never let it get in the way of getting a higher education. Are you telling me that only the uneducated work hard?