Try this out and see if you come to the same conclusion as I do

[plannine]

Originally Posted by whatyousay

You can look up political campaign donations (many different ways), but type in some zipcodes near you. On the right it should give you a total amount dontated to each political party for that particular zipcode.

Next, compare nice neighborhoods to rougher ones... upper class ones to lower class ones. Make a note of which party receives more political donations, republican vs democrat.

From trying this out myself, I've noticed that the nicer the neighborhood, the higher the donations to republican candidates. The worse the neighborhood, the higher the donations to democratic candidates.

My city:

$18,762 from 14 people to Republicans
$43,195 from 61 people to Democrats

My cities estimated median household income in 2008: $87,995
Guess were in a 'rougher' neighborhood.

How we voted:

John McCain/Sarah Palin (REP) 27.62%
Barack Obama/Joe Biden (DEM) 70.71%
Cynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente (GRN) 0.27%
Chuck Baldwin/Darrell L. Castle (UST) 0.05%
Bob Barr/Wayne A. Root (LIB) 0.92%
Ralph Nader/Matt Gonzalez (NLP) 0.43%
WRITE-IN 0.00%

[harborlady]

Originally Posted by dusk99

This illustrates the problem with democracy, the fact that people will always vote for their own self-interests.

I hope the wisdom of our founders can prevail. Something the depression era generation knew for fact, the common thread that bound them-- our self interests are served when we're in service to the higher calling of the greater good (America). I see boomers and beyond getting further away from that core principle to the detriment of America IMO.

I'm very worried about our future when I see this missing everywhere I look (kids, parents, employers, poli parties etc).

{geek} I believe our troops mean to finish the mission and have stated such openly in interviews. The common complaint I've heard from active duty (enlisted and officers alike) from Vietnam all the way to present tense... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Sir? What they heck are we doing (grander scheme policy/ strategy)? To understand their position better, you'd have to listen to Libertarians position.

Call this anecdotal data but... it was no small coincidence during my active duty time that a large population of libertarians were on my ships compliment. When 3rd party or libertarian candidates aren't available on ballots, they/ we/ I was forced to sign on as repub or dem when neither represented me. Statistics will never reflect that reality because they never asked the right questions and never offered the full package of choices.

IMO the troops do not want a hasty retreat to punch out a time card. They want a better defined mission, clear goals= an exit strategy because you just gave them a work list to achieve vs a babysitting mission for domestic disputes. Listen to active duty on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan from day one to present tense you'll hear frustration being saddled with babysitting mission.
IMO Obama promising a time line wasn't what they were voting for, the higher intellectual strategy was the thing. Not a smear on McCain, they do respect his veteran status, but McCain was damaged good from Neocon policy that he went along with due to GOP pressure. Had GOP listened to McCain in 2000, they wouldn't find themselves where they are now. Also know that vets and active duty do not vote solely for the sake of special interests for vets-- they are altruistic by nature and vote for whats best for the country on all issues, not just their pet peeves.

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by whatyousay

You can look up political campaign donations (many different ways), but type in some zipcodes near you. On the right it should give you a total amount dontated to each political party for that particular zipcode.

Next, compare nice neighborhoods to rougher ones... upper class ones to lower class ones. Make a note of which party receives more political donations, republican vs democrat.

From trying this out myself, I've noticed that the nicer the neighborhood, the higher the donations to republican candidates. The worse the neighborhood, the higher the donations to democratic candidates.

So did you actually look at a wide cross section of neighborhoods of varying income levels across the entire nation did you just look up a few neighborhoods near where you live and call it a day? Because I can find high income areas where I live that are primarily Democratic and low-income ones that voted Republican---however that doesn't mean that those trends would be necessarily reflected in a different part of the country.