Freedom Line Blog

The Almanac of American Politics arrived at our offices today, and with it, a handy little chart on page 1699.

The typical refrain is that the GOP is the party of big-money country club types and Democrats are the party of the little-guy.  As stereotpyical as these labels might be, numbers from the 2008 election tell a strange story.

The Almanac broke down the zip codes in the U.S. by total amount of political contributions.  For example, zip code 10021, which resides in the upper-east side in New York City, contributed over $21 million during the 2007-08 cycle.  Of that amount, over 72% went to Democrats.

This was a typical refrain from the chart.  The six most prolific donor zip codes during the last cycle were all from New York City and all gave big money to Democrats, a total of over $44 million.  That’s $44 million from literally a few square miles on Manhattan Island.  Of the 25 most prolific zip codes, only 3 favored Republicans over Democrats.

More proof of the drastic change in certain demographic groups toward the Democratic Party is evidenced in recent election data.  According to the Almanac, President Obama won 52% of the vote for those reporting income over $200,000 in 2008, even though the President promised to raise income taxes for anyone making over $250,000.

To put that figure in perspective, John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee, received only 35% of the vote for individuals reporting over $200,000 in income.  This  18% jump in high-earners and a massive amount of cash from New York City and California helped propel President Obama to the White House.