David Callahan has an interesting piece in The New Republic about how the new-economy rich are more liberal than the old-economy rich. He may be right. But one particular example he uses doesn’t inspire confidence in his thesis:
New economy wealth will keep reshaping the electoral map, and in ever more surprising ways. The once-conservative metro area of Omaha, for example, is being transformed by white-collar industries and, in 2008, went for Obama. Even the upscale precincts of Dallas, now a major tech city, are growing more liberal. Obama raised far more money than any other candidate except for Rudy Giuliani, the least conservative of the Republicans, in Preston Hollow, the wealthy neighborhood where George W. Bush moved after he left the White House. Put that together with the movement of rural and a lot of white, working-class Americans into the Republican camp, and you have a map that looks dramatically different from New Deal America. [my bold]
That intrigued me, so I took a look: what I found were predominantly doctors,  lawyers, and housewives. Nice people, yes. New economy, no.
(Sidenote: To my surprise, I didn’t see the usual suspects, trial lawyers. After supporting John Edwards, they probably donated through the Democratic National Committee. )
