Why John McCain Continues to Trail Barack Obama in Pennsylvania

U.S. News & World Report by Michael Barone | Oct. 27, 2008 (Opinion)

High-income, high-education voters in the suburbs of big metro areas, my hypothesis goes, are preoccupied with long-term wealth accumulation—and react sharply against the Republican Party when their wealth is suddenly sharply diminished when there is a Republican president. Modest-income, modest-education voters in less affluent surroundings, it seems judging from McCain's relatively good showing in Pennsylvania outside the heavily populated southeast, ... Full Story »

Posted by Chris Finnie

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Subjects: U.S., Politics
Topics: Presidential Election 2008, John McCain, Obama Administration
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Posted by: Posted by Chris Finnie - Oct 27, 2008 - 9:37 PM PDT
Reviewed by: Chris Finnie (review), Valliappa Lakshmanan (review), Dwight Rousu (review)
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Edited by: Chris Finnie - Oct 27, 2008 - 9:37 PM PDT
Related Comments: Obama Administration (3)

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Dwight Rousu
2.4
 by Dwight Rousu - Oct. 28, 2008

Barone seems to think economic status and economic policies determine the vote of almost all voters. He ignores other things like torture, war, the constitution, science based policy, global warming, and candidate character. Let me guess he is white, right, and a rich republican.

The question is why is McCain not trailing worse.

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Chris Finnie
4.3
 by Chris Finnie - Oct. 28, 2008

Just one man's theory. But it makes as much sense as anything else I've heard. And Barone does a good job of supporting it with demographics, plus economic and voting trend data.

Chris posted this story.
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Valliappa Lakshmanan
4.9
 by Valliappa Lakshmanan - Oct. 28, 2008

Insightful theory that many of the affluent voters who are for Obama are voting against the economic mess created during the Republican administration, but that this runs counter to their economic interests. Bases it on facts.

Barone fails to consider that the affluent may be voting against their economic interests, but that they are voting their cultural insistincts i.e. exactly how rural voters vote Republican. Since McCain has been running an anti-science, anti-intellectual, highly bigoted campaign, maybe educated voters are turned off?

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