Here’s a story about a report that argues that Democrats have lost the votes of the white middle class.

Among the five principal findings are that white middle-income voters supported President Bush by 22 percentage points. The study concluded that the "economic tipping point -- the income level above which white voters were more likely to vote Republican than Democrat -- was $23,700."

The federal poverty guideline for a family of four is currently $19,350, so I don’t think of $23,700 as middle class. I’d put it this way: the moment you get out of what might reasonably be defined as poverty, you become likely, if you’re white, to vote Republican.

I can’t find the whole report on-line, but here’s the website of the group that apparently sponsored it.