[lbo-talk] Why do people vote against their interests? P.J. O'Rourke explains

Jeffrey Fisher jfisher at igc.org
Fri Jun 11 07:45:55 PDT 2004


On Friday, June 11, 2004, at 09:27 AM, Doug Henwood wrote:


> While there are some poorer white men who vote Rep for cultural
> reasons, we shouldn't forget that votes do broadly correlate with
> income. Here's the breakdown from the 2000 election:
>
> Gore Bush Buchanan Nader
> <15,000 57% 37% 1% 4%
> 15,000-30,000 54% 41% 1% 3%
> 30,000-50,000 49% 48% 0% 2%
> 50,000-75,000 46% 51% 0% 2%
> 75,000-100,000 45% 52% 0% 2%
> 100,000+ 43% 54% 0% 2%

is this household income?

is it reasonable to conclude from this that "cultural factors" (i.e., non-financial) matter most in that 30-50K range, where the vote is virtually evenly split? or is it the fear of proletarianization (and so voting DEM) vs. the hope of reaching the upper class, eventually (and so voting GOP)?

i know i'm risking the wrath of carrol and miles for these kinds of baseless hypothetical generalizations, but that's not the only reason i'm now going to ask: are there studies or surveys that break down that middle vote and tell us why they go one way or the other?

i'd sure like to know.

j



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