What In The…
by Brien Jackson
Here I’m starting from the premise that American politics has been fitfully sorting itself into a meritocracy-versus-populism dynamic, with one party (the Democrats) dominated by the mass upper class and the other party (the GOP) representing the middle and working-class voters who resent this newish elite, for good reasons and for bad.
I’m not really all that interested by any of the other contentions, but this just strikes me as odd. And obviously the reason it strikes me as odd is that, generally speaking, we tend to assume that lower income voters are more predisposed to the Democratic Party and more affluent voters support the GOP at a higher rate. I suppose general demographic assumptions aren’t really an argument, but then facts become “common knowledge” for a reason, and as exit polling from 2008, 2004, 2000, and basically every other election from the modern era shows, there’s a clear trend in the realtionship between income and partisan preference; lower income voters are more likely to vote for Democrats, higher income voters are more likely than lower income voters to support Republicans. That’s basically American Politics 101.
So basically, the only question now is whether Douthat is actually ignorant enough to believe that statement and, if not, why exactly he would make such a claim?
Tags: Ross Douthat
February 13th, 2009 at 6:56 PM
I have no idea if this is what he’s going for but common perception does not always equal reality and the common perception is that the Republican Party attempts to appeal to the middle and working class (while whining continually about not grabbing the lower class) Likewise common perception is that the Democratic Party attempts to appeal to the upper class. The perception is based on representatives, spokespersons and venues. But more importantly, the perception is based on the kind of language used and cultural appeal generated. As has been repeatedly pointed out (and ignored) the Republican Party does nothing to generate a rapport with minorities specifically. This resonates beyond the cultural aspects of the minorities in question and creates a sense of “understanding” among those who consider themselves to be more than just the economic classification their income provides. Thus, the common perception may be based on the actual attempts at appeal, but the reality is that the appeal comes from the understand the party portrays towards the demongraphic they are trying to reach. Republicans SAY they represent the working class but the last two presidential terms have belied that statement moreover the Republican party has done little to counteract that very truthful perception.