Paul Krugman: Income and Voting
Thisis indeed a very strange idea::
Income and voting - Paul Krugman - Op-Ed Columnist - New York Times Blog: And one more before the day’s round of media stuff begins. Another weirdly persistent myth is that rich people vote Democratic, while working stiffs vote Republican. Here’s Tucker Carlson:
OK, but here’s the fact that nobody ever, ever mentions — Democrats win rich people. Over 100,000 in income, you are likely more than not to vote for Democrats. People never point that out. Rich people vote liberal. I don’t know what that’s all about
Actually, people mention this alleged fact all the time — but the truth is just the opposite. From the 2006 exit polls:
VOTE BY INCOME TOTAL Democrat Republican
Less Than $100,000 (78%) 55% 43%
$100,000 or More (22%) 47% 52%And the fact that people with higher incomes are more likely to vote Republican has been consistently true since 1972. The interesting question is why so many pundits know for a fact something that simply ain’t so.
