I certainly fall outside of the supposed typical class voting for Obama (I make far less than $20K/yr) – though I am (mostly) college edumacated – and while there are certainly many people who don’t fit the trend, there is little point in denying that the trends exist.

What would be more helpful is to try and understand why the candidates appeal to these different demographics, and how can we find a common ground?

And I live on the West Coast, we make too much to qualify for a tax refund, I drive a Volvo, listen to NPR, shop at Whole Foods, eat soy cheese and and read the New York Review of Books. I think my elitist clueless cred is pretty spankin’ fine, thanks, and I’m just not sold on ol’ Barack just yet. I know plenty of folks in my demographic who backed Clinton over Obama in our primary, and class and race had nothing to do with it. Gender did, I’ll admit. If it was Bill Clinton vs. Barack Obama, I’d pull the lever for the latter. I haven’t been happy with our 42nd president, and I think Hillary has been more hurt than helped by her husband.

I’ll vote for him in the fall if he’s the nominee, but of the candidates still in the race, he’s my second choice. And I am really tired of hearing the appalling race/class analysis of this race, which doesn’t jive at all with my admittedly limited experience.

And don’t get me started on the NARAL idiocy. WTF? Are they trying to dry up their donor base intentionally?

Having said that, there is something a bit bizarre about people voting for Clinton (or, in the general, McCain) because they think Obama is an elite. Um, they’re all sort of elites, by definition, and Obama is probably the least elite of any of them, since he didn’t became wealthy and powerful until the last couple of years.

After this election I think we need to retire the word elite, because I’m not sure it means anything any more other than “a person I don’t like.”