I think I'm not supposed to like David Brook's column on the composition of Obama's rich donor class, but actually, it's really interesting, and gets more than a little bit right. The fact that a number of ascendant industries (tech, investment banking, etc) lean Democratic is a pretty big story. As Brooks puts it:The trends are pretty clear: rising economic sectors tend to favor Democrats while declining economic sectors are more likely to favor Republicans. The Democratic Party (not just Obama) has huge fund-raising advantages among people who work in electronics, communications, law and the catchall category of finance, insurance and real estate. Republicans have the advantage in agribusiness, oil and gas and transportation. Which set of sectors do you think are going to grow most quickly in this century’s service economy?Brooks downplays the fact that Obama's small donor success actually creates an unheralded level of independence from these particular donors, as cash just isn't a relevant scarcity for Obama, and thus their possible threats to walk away from the table won't carry a whole lot of weight. The bigger question is how much influence and access they do or don't have over his thinking. In reflecting on his life as a politician in The Audacity of Hope, Obama was very perceptive on how this works:
