The money trail

Mother Jones has a lengthier version of a graphic that also appeared in the last issue of the print magazine up on their website that wryly compares the distribution of political donations this year by occupation. It's a bit of a gag (apparently whether you call yourself a reverend or a preacher determines your political leanings) and there are some bizarre numbers ("homemakers" donated $30 million!?!?) but I did find one thing of interest, which reinforces something I wrote several months back. The American public views politics largely through the lens of social issues. Why else would truck drivers and CEOs have exactly mirroring party affinity, with the former going for Republicans and the latter for Democrats? That's not a surprise, of course; it's been well-documented how the Democrats are faring better with corporate money while the GOP goes through the ritual purging of the embarrassing social conservatives.

One other item of interest: while the engaging Democratic primary drew more fundraising interest across most demographics, there was one group that gave 72 percent of it's nearly $47 million pie to the GOP: Retirees.