The GOP - Stuck in the Middle

By PoetCSW -
Warren Buffett speaking to a group of students...
Warren Buffett speaking to a group of students from the Kansas University School of Business (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
"A review of the 20 richest Americans, as listed by Forbes Magazine, found that 60 percent affiliate with the Democratic Party, including the top three individuals: Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Larry Ellison. Among the richest families, the Democratic advantage rises even higher, to 75 percent."
—Debt.org

Just think about that and the paradox of the top of the top (the 0.1%) typically voting for and sometimes running for office as Democrats (FDR, JFK). The GOP holds the $75,000 to $187,000 range and starts to lose ground quickly at $200,000 -- the same line that marks most people with graduate or professional degrees.

The Democrats have been, since about 1948, the party of the elites and the poor. The GOP has had a narrow window of voters in the white, high-school graduate and non-elite university bachelor's degree holder categories.

It's almost stunning how you can map the Democrats by urban density, college density, technical employers, financial centers, and so on. The GOP has the middle... of everything. Middle class. Middle of the map. Middle of the educational range. Even "middle-aged" voters for a time.

Yes, the Republican Party is considered the party of the wealthy, and there are some notable wealthy Republicans (and libertarians), but overall the division between graduate degree holders and everyone else almost ensures the Democrats have the majority of top income earners within their voting ranks.

That's not bad or good. My point is that the reality of who votes for whom isn't the stereotype.

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