Mike DeBow of Southern Appeal told me today that this report is finally available on-line. I’ve posted about it before here, here, and here.
The report notes that white middle class voters (once again, earning $30,000 - 75,000) behaved in 2004 much the same way as did their wealthier brethren, and that as their income increases, Hispanic voters are much less likely to vote for Democrats.
The only middle class voters that Democrats can count on are blacks, unmarried
women, and those with a graduate education – roughly one-third of the middle class
electorate. This group of middle class voters kept Democrats within shouting distance
of Republicans in the last election.
The behavior of graduate educated voters--the only middle class constituency that doesn’t obviously vote for Democrats for reasons of history or (perhaps) economic insecurity reminds us of the importance of encouraging intellectual pluralism on America’s campuses. (I know it’s more complicated than that, but at moment, I’m out of blogging time.)
Update: Mike also called my attention to this article at NRO.
That graduate demographic is packed with teachers union members who have gotten masters degrees in summer school to get increased salaries.
This may come as a mild shock, to those reading this forum, but the same "middle class" hicks who Deaniacs (and Hillarys) berate today were the gun-totin’, God-fearin’, blood-n-guts of the solid Democratic majority that held sway in America from 1954 to 1994. Tip O’Neil, the former Tom Delay of his day, dubbed these powerful hicks as the "all politics is local" crowd, to which his party was absolutely beholden to.
While these "white Christian" folk were adored by FDR Democrats for the power they possessed, let’s face it... the Dean/Hillary crowd loath the very ground these garage-sale nut balls walk.
All hail the GOP: as long as they sing this "middle class" tune! :)