Rich Old White Men: Still the Problem
by The Nation

The latest New York Times-CBS News poll identifies the demographic group with the highest level of support for John McCain: rich old white men. Coincidentally, they are also the people who control Wall Street, Congress, and the White House.

The poll defined "old" as "45 or older." Many will take issue with
that definition, but those old white men supported McCain over Obama
48-42 per cent. White men under 45, in contrast, supported Obama, 50-
43. And white women supported Obama, 45-42, whatever their age.

The poll also shows that rich white people are even more likely to
support McCain - no surprise. Here the poll defined "rich" as earning
$50,000 or more. Most will take issue with that definition, but those
rich white people supported McCain 49-42. (The poll did not provide
separate figures for women and men among rich old white people-
probably their sample was not big enough.)

White Protestants are even more likely to support McCain, according
to the poll: they split 55-34 for McCain. White Catholics in contrast
supported Obama, 53-46.

Extrapolating from these figures, we can conclude that rich old white
Protestant men are the base of McCain's support -- and thus the
number one problem in American politics today.

The poll did contain some signs of progress, even for old white men:
fewer of them support McCain than supported George W. Bush four years
ago. 62 per cent of old white men voted for Bush in 2004, according
to the poll, while only 48 percent plan to vote for McCain this year
- a switch of 14 per cent of old white men from the "problem"
category to the "part of the solution" group.

The shift away from the Republicans among old white men was dwarfed
by the figure for young white men. Their support for the Republican
candidate fell from 62 percent in 2004 to 43 per cent today--a
whopping 19 percent switch away from the "problem" category. Young
white men today prefer Obama, 50-43.

Another recent poll shows Obama winning more white voters than any
Democrat in three decades. The Gallup Poll shows 44 percent of non-
Hispanic white voters supporting Obama. Politico's David Paul Kuhn
calls that "the highest number for a Democrat since 47 percent of
whites backed Jimmy Carter in 1976." It's more than Bill Clinton got
in 1996, when he won the support of 43 per cent of whites and 38 per
cent of white men. The peak support for a Democrat among white voters
was for Lyndon Johnson in 1964, who won more than 50 per cent.

The New York Times-CBS News poll was released October 24 and showed
that the split among all registered voters was 52 per cent for Obama,
37 for McCain.

My family is not agreeing with that. My white, 70 y/o parents are voting for Obama.

the most amusing part to me is that men earning $50,000.00 a year are considered rich.

With that in mind I guess that is why the GOP thinks Obama is going to raise their taxes. They are Rich

$50,000 rich.

I must admit that I was surprised to learn that I am barely above the poverty line making 30,000.00

I think I am rich.

I have some land in the country, a roof over my head, my dog,my books and a computer, some food in the pantry and cold beer in the fridge.

I struggle.

I am voting Obama.

Oh, and by government standards I am poor.

If I'm rich by government standards, how come I can barely pay all my bills?