5 ms·

It’s pretty obvious from election maps and donor data that the democrats are now the party of coastal/urban elites, despite what they may advertise.

paulryanrogers 6y ago
This discounts tens of millions of Democrats living inland who are obscured by maps depending on the electoral college. It seems to me the pattern is that where population density increases the people tend to be more politically leftward-leaning.
- ttesttom 6y ago
  There was an interesting chart from the economist today about that, which showed a strong correlation. The denser the area the more democratic. https://twitter.com/gelliottmorris/status/1326250981131169794?s=20 https://twitter.com/gelliottmorris/status/132625098113116979...
watwut 6y ago
Majority of Americans lives on the coast and in cities. They can't be all elite.
triceratops 6y ago
You're saying the majority of voters this year were elite? That's a whole lotta elites...kinda waters down the definition no?
dragonwriter 6y ago
> It’s pretty obvious from election maps and donor data that the democrats are now the party of coastal/urban elites Urban populations, sure. Not particularly coastal aside from the fact that there's more urban population on the coasts, as county-level maps show pretty clearly. “Elites” are more dubious. Sure, Democrats and Republicans (counting leaners) are closer to parity for voters with less than a college degree, with college grads and even moreso postgraduate degree holders strongly favoring Democrats. OTOH, Blacks, who are overwhelming not elites, overwhelming are (and even more overwhelming lean) Democratic, and the same is true predominantly (though less overwhelmingly) of Hispanics. So, yes, to the urban part, not particularly independently true of the “elite” or “coastal” part.
- tshaddox 6y ago
  What are we calling "urban" here? More than 80% of Americans live in urban areas. Are we using a circular definition of "urban" that means "big cities with a large Democrat majority"?
  - webmaven 6y ago
    > What are we calling "urban" here? More than 80% of Americans live in urban areas. Are we using a circular definition of "urban" that means "big cities with a large Democrat majority"? Urban mostly means "denser than suburban tracts of single-family homes".
  - dragonwriter 6y ago
    > What are we calling "urban" here? More than 80% of Americans live in urban areas. By the census definitions, which don't separate out suburban as a separate category, but encompass what would normally be thought of that way as part of urban. If you look at the urban core counties in the Pew list below and a by-county election map of the US, there's a pretty close correlation, visually at least. https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/07/29/prior-to-covid-19-urban-core-counties-in-the-u-s-were-gaining-vitality-on-key-measures/ https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/07/29/prior-to-covid-19...
- vorpalhex 6y ago
  > OTOH, Blacks, who are overwhelming not elites, overwhelming are (and even more overwhelming lean) Democratic, and the same is true predominantly (though less overwhelmingly) of Hispanics. I think that's actually the rub. Blacks and Hispanics are voting less and less for Democrats, and that is true more for this last election than 2016 [1] Despite the very visible rhetoric of racial equality and other movements, the Dems are becoming the party of rich white people. [1] - https://news.yahoo.com/exit-poll-black-men-drifted-204522278.html https://news.yahoo.com/exit-poll-black-men-drifted-204522278...
  - dragonwriter 6y ago
    > I think that's actually the rub. Blacks and Hispanics are voting less and less for Democrats, and that is true more for this last election than 2016 Clinton won greater than 90% of the black vote in 2016, as did House Democrats in 2018; there's indications that Biden did a little worse this year. specifically among black men. > the Dems are becoming the party of rich white people. Good verified voter data for 2020 will take a while, but in 2016 Trump won 55-39 among whites with over $150K income; the Republicans (while they have support elsewhere, as well) are very much the party of rich white people. Meanwhile, even if they've lost some ground with some of these groups compared to some point in the past, Democrats remain heavily favored, nationally, by blacks, asians, and hispanics.
tshaddox 6y ago
What does "coastal/urban elites" mean? Just anyone who lives in a coastal or urban area? 80% of the American population lives in urban areas, and that's only going to increase when you include whatever your definition of "coastal" is. Where does the "elite" factor in?
- orangecat 6y ago
  Where does the "elite" factor in? As a rough approximation, almost everyone in your social circles having a college degree.
  - tshaddox 6y ago
    A college degree sounds like a laughably low bar for being considered "elite." 27% of American adults have college degrees. In a state like Missouri which is presumably not considered a particularly liberal or Democratic or "elite" state, over 50% of adults have college degrees.
    - orangecat 6y ago
      From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_educational_attainment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territ... I see 31% for the US and 28% for Missouri. Regardless, the key point is "almost everyone in your social circle".
      - free_rms 6y ago
        Another key point is that 31 and 28 are well short of 51. What's the plan to get there?
      - tshaddox 6y ago
        Oops, not sure where I found that Missouri figure, but it looks like you're right. Still, one quarter to one third of the population doesn't fit what I would remotely consider to be "elite." And why is "almost everyone in your social circle" relevant? I don't think people generally use the word "elite" to refer to the ability to make friends from among a specific third of the national population.
TheCoelacanth 6y ago
Please. A college degree and living in a big city does not make someone "elite". Actual elites skew strongly Republican.
kaitai 6y ago
I disagree with both you and the poster who talks about the high & low against the middle, though less with the other poster. I'm from flyover country, one of those three states that went Biden this year surrounded by a sea of red. You know, one of the three states that elected half the members of 'the squad'. Sure, California rich people can throw in a lot of money, but that's true for both Republican and Democratic parties. Don't dismiss our importance in the Democratic party. We turn up & do the work, including the work of talking with our 'red' neighbors and actually trying to work things out in this country. As for high & low vs middle, it just doesn't make sense to me. Lots of rich people supporting the Republicans -- lots, lots, lots. Lots of rich people supporting the Dems. Poor people split by race and geography. Middle class people split by race and geography. The split by geography and race is more significant than the split by income, in almost every presentation of data that I see.
wcarron 6y ago
Oh yeah, all those "coastal/urban elites" from New Mexico, Arizona, and Minnesota.

paulryanrogers 6y ago

This discounts tens of millions of Democrats living inland who are obscured by maps depending on the electoral college. It seems to me the pattern is that where population density increases the people tend to be more politically leftward-leaning.

ttesttom 6y ago
There was an interesting chart from the economist today about that, which showed a strong correlation. The denser the area the more democratic. https://twitter.com/gelliottmorris/status/1326250981131169794?s=20 https://twitter.com/gelliottmorris/status/132625098113116979...

watwut 6y ago

Majority of Americans lives on the coast and in cities. They can't be all elite.

triceratops 6y ago

You're saying the majority of voters this year were elite? That's a whole lotta elites...kinda waters down the definition no?

dragonwriter 6y ago

> It’s pretty obvious from election maps and donor data that the democrats are now the party of coastal/urban elites Urban populations, sure. Not particularly coastal aside from the fact that there's more urban population on the coasts, as county-level maps show pretty clearly. “Elites” are more dubious. Sure, Democrats and Republicans (counting leaners) are closer to parity for voters with less than a college degree, with college grads and even moreso postgraduate degree holders strongly favoring Democrats. OTOH, Blacks, who are overwhelming not elites, overwhelming are (and even more overwhelming lean) Democratic, and the same is true predominantly (though less overwhelmingly) of Hispanics. So, yes, to the urban part, not particularly independently true of the “elite” or “coastal” part.

tshaddox 6y ago
What are we calling "urban" here? More than 80% of Americans live in urban areas. Are we using a circular definition of "urban" that means "big cities with a large Democrat majority"?
- webmaven 6y ago
  > What are we calling "urban" here? More than 80% of Americans live in urban areas. Are we using a circular definition of "urban" that means "big cities with a large Democrat majority"? Urban mostly means "denser than suburban tracts of single-family homes".
- dragonwriter 6y ago
  > What are we calling "urban" here? More than 80% of Americans live in urban areas. By the census definitions, which don't separate out suburban as a separate category, but encompass what would normally be thought of that way as part of urban. If you look at the urban core counties in the Pew list below and a by-county election map of the US, there's a pretty close correlation, visually at least. https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/07/29/prior-to-covid-19-urban-core-counties-in-the-u-s-were-gaining-vitality-on-key-measures/ https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/07/29/prior-to-covid-19...
vorpalhex 6y ago
> OTOH, Blacks, who are overwhelming not elites, overwhelming are (and even more overwhelming lean) Democratic, and the same is true predominantly (though less overwhelmingly) of Hispanics. I think that's actually the rub. Blacks and Hispanics are voting less and less for Democrats, and that is true more for this last election than 2016 [1] Despite the very visible rhetoric of racial equality and other movements, the Dems are becoming the party of rich white people. [1] - https://news.yahoo.com/exit-poll-black-men-drifted-204522278.html https://news.yahoo.com/exit-poll-black-men-drifted-204522278...
- dragonwriter 6y ago
  > I think that's actually the rub. Blacks and Hispanics are voting less and less for Democrats, and that is true more for this last election than 2016 Clinton won greater than 90% of the black vote in 2016, as did House Democrats in 2018; there's indications that Biden did a little worse this year. specifically among black men. > the Dems are becoming the party of rich white people. Good verified voter data for 2020 will take a while, but in 2016 Trump won 55-39 among whites with over $150K income; the Republicans (while they have support elsewhere, as well) are very much the party of rich white people. Meanwhile, even if they've lost some ground with some of these groups compared to some point in the past, Democrats remain heavily favored, nationally, by blacks, asians, and hispanics.

tshaddox 6y ago

What does "coastal/urban elites" mean? Just anyone who lives in a coastal or urban area? 80% of the American population lives in urban areas, and that's only going to increase when you include whatever your definition of "coastal" is. Where does the "elite" factor in?

orangecat 6y ago
Where does the "elite" factor in? As a rough approximation, almost everyone in your social circles having a college degree.
- tshaddox 6y ago
  A college degree sounds like a laughably low bar for being considered "elite." 27% of American adults have college degrees. In a state like Missouri which is presumably not considered a particularly liberal or Democratic or "elite" state, over 50% of adults have college degrees.
  - orangecat 6y ago
    From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_educational_attainment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territ... I see 31% for the US and 28% for Missouri. Regardless, the key point is "almost everyone in your social circle".
    - free_rms 6y ago
      Another key point is that 31 and 28 are well short of 51. What's the plan to get there?
    - tshaddox 6y ago
      Oops, not sure where I found that Missouri figure, but it looks like you're right. Still, one quarter to one third of the population doesn't fit what I would remotely consider to be "elite." And why is "almost everyone in your social circle" relevant? I don't think people generally use the word "elite" to refer to the ability to make friends from among a specific third of the national population.

TheCoelacanth 6y ago

Please. A college degree and living in a big city does not make someone "elite". Actual elites skew strongly Republican.

kaitai 6y ago

I disagree with both you and the poster who talks about the high & low against the middle, though less with the other poster. I'm from flyover country, one of those three states that went Biden this year surrounded by a sea of red. You know, one of the three states that elected half the members of 'the squad'. Sure, California rich people can throw in a lot of money, but that's true for both Republican and Democratic parties. Don't dismiss our importance in the Democratic party. We turn up & do the work, including the work of talking with our 'red' neighbors and actually trying to work things out in this country. As for high & low vs middle, it just doesn't make sense to me. Lots of rich people supporting the Republicans -- lots, lots, lots. Lots of rich people supporting the Dems. Poor people split by race and geography. Middle class people split by race and geography. The split by geography and race is more significant than the split by income, in almost every presentation of data that I see.

wcarron 6y ago

Oh yeah, all those "coastal/urban elites" from New Mexico, Arizona, and Minnesota.