Writing for National Review, Robert Costa interviews Patrick Caddell, former pollster for Jimmy Carter, for his take on the midterm elections. Rather than a referendum on President Obama or the Democratic Party, Caddell sees November as a "broader referendum on the political class":
“Democrats used to be the voice of the common man in America, not his dictator,” Caddell laments. “Now, with Wall Street, their mantra is, ‘We'll take your money, but we won't kiss.' The people who own the party — George Soros, the Center for American Progress, the public-employee union bosses, rich folks flying private jets to ‘ideas festivals' in Aspen — they're Obama's base.”
I haven't heard this criticism since the primaries, but that doesn't make it any less wrong. A quick glance at the 2008 exit polls shows that Obama took the majority of his support from middle- and low-income voters, as well as voters with only a high school education or some college. And looking at presidential approval ratings, Obama receives his highest support from minority and low-income voters, which isn't a surprise, since he's a Democrat, and the entire Democratic coalition is built around minority and low-income voters. Caddell argument is mostly just him substituting the Democratic donor class for the entire party coalition, as if that made any kind of sense.
--Jamelle Bouie
