> [any non-psychological explanations of why support should be
> strongestt among "upper blue collar workers" - and, I'm pretty sure,
> within that group among males?]
(This is a bit speculative but anyway ... ) I couldn't find anything about methodology on the (pretty shallow) Nielsen website, and I'd like to know how they're defining "upper blue collar workers", i.e. whether it includes self-employed/small business operators. In this country many of the latter are not "petty bourgeois" culturally and might be considered "blue collar" (although certainly not in terms of income --- e.g. there was a story in the media here recently about how the most common occupation of millionaires in Australia was "self-employed builder", which sounds strange until one considers both the structural high demand for new homes and the prevalence of sub-contracting in that industry ).
Like the (old/true) petty bourgeoisie, they are also probably the most conservative of all classes/strata and are --- inter alia --- the main power base for the ultra conservative (former fish & chip shop owner) Pauline Hanson and her increasingly fractious One Nation party (which are, for those who don't know, somewhat like Jean-Marie Le Pen or Pat Buchanan).
regards,
Grant.