How Donations Depict Donors

[Feanorcurufinwe]

They are young. They propel urban gentrification. They shop at Banana Republic, read Vanity Fair, like Audi A4s and watch reruns of "Friends." The $54,117 median family income of these well-educated, Internet-savvy professionals is relatively low in part because so many are single and live alone.

The people who meet these criteria tend to live in Zip codes that Claritas Inc., the demographics research firm, has classified as the nation's "Bohemian Mix."

They stand out in one other respect: They contribute to the presidential campaign of former Vermont governor Howard Dean (D).

Another strong Dean donor group is made up of what Claritas has called "Up and Comers" -- upwardly mobile, college-educated young singles who are heavy Internet users, shop at Ann Taylor and watch MTV.

The pattern of contributions to Dean shows how he has been able to tap into one of the fastest growing Democratic constituencies: well-educated, socially liberal and relatively affluent voters.

Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) has, in turn, successfully mined two other similar constituencies: what Claritas has called "Young Digerati" -- listen to National Public Radio, drive Saabs, live in condos on the edge of cities -- and "Money and Brains" -- support arts charities, shop at Nordstrom, married with few if any children, many with postgraduate degrees.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23634-2004Jan16.html

[stickdog]

1. How in the hell do they come up with this stuff?

Did they crosscheck all Dean supporters against Acxiom's CAPPS II no-fly list or something?

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

2. most likely

something like that.

Note to Acxiom - I donated to Clark's campaign. Please don't kill me. :evilgrin:

[SahaleArm]

6. Contributor zip codes cross referenced with census info...

crossed with collected data on lifestyles. A lot of the lifestyle data is collected for direct-mailing and real estate.

[stickdog]

8. People are being judged on their zip code?

Obviously, the folks who decided this would be a good idea have never been to Chicago, San Francisco or New Orleans.

[dsc]

3. It is honestly way too hard to enunicate all of the problems with this

but here are a few.

Dean has many gay supporters and donors. Most gays live in zip codes that appear to be fairly wealthy. Thus the appearence of a wealthy donor base is given. But without figuring out exactly where they money is coming from with in the zip code we have no idea the wealth of the people actually giving the money. In most cases gay communities are going to be economically diverse since they aren't going to be huge. In my area the two zip codes most associated with gays have housing ranging from expensive condos and mansions down to studio apartments and one bedrooms. That is a pretty inprecise analysis to say the least.

This also skews the wealth of candidates with urban constituencies. Even poor areas of cities tend to have higher average incomes than rural areas. Again, the disparity can be huge as well.

Just two problems out of a laundry list of them.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

4. I just thought it was funny.

I mean, really - Dean donors shop at Banana Republic and Kerry donors shop at Nordstroms? Based on zip codes? The whole thing sounds too silly for me to take seriously.

[dsc]

5. I am glad to hear that

I had presumed you to be serious do to previous postings of this voodoo that were serious (not by you to be sure).

[sangha]

10. Are you sure about that?

Most gays live in zip codes that appear to be fairly wealthy.

I've never heard tha tbefore, but I have read recently that gays have a avg income slightly lower than avg.

[dsc]

12. Most out gays atleast tend to live

in urban areas and often in economically diverse urban ones. To site two examples I am familiar with (Cleveland and Chicago). In Cleveland most gays live in Lakewood (44107) and the Clifford area of Cleveland (not sure of zip). Both have a mix of condos, apartments, and houses up to mansions.

Boystown in Chicago is the area around Wrigley field and also has a similar mix.

Gays and lesbians do probably have a higher average income for a variety of reasons. One, they do tend to live in urban areas which have higher costs of living. Two, they all tend to work due to benefits not being given to 'spouses'. that leads to a higher average income but not necessarily a higher standard of living.

[sangha]

14. Thanks, dsc

.

[hellhathnofury]

7. Well...

:nuke: :grr: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[cally]

9. kick

:kick:

[Ramsey]

11. MOG!!!

That is so funny. How silly. People actually make a living coming up with this tripe??

On a related note there was a good article in the NYT today about how the demographic term "Nascar dad" came about and how diverse this group of men really are.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/18/weekinreview/18macg.html

Edit: In my title I meant "OMG", but I kinda like "MOG", so I think I'll leave it. :-)

[BuelahWitch]

13. OK, I'm a Dean donor, lets see if I fit...

"They are young."
Hmmm, not really, I'm 41.

"They propel urban gentrification."
Sometimes I propel a catnip mouse, does that count?

"They shop at Banana Republic"
Nope

"read Vanity Fair"
Nope

"like Audi A4s"
I don't know my A4s from my A1s, 2s or 3s.

"watch reruns of "Friends."
(Holds hand in air, scouts honor sign) I have never watched an episode of Friends in my life (and I'm damn proud of it!)

"The $54,117 median family income"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

"of these well-educated"
Eh. Does some Community College count?

"Internet-savvy"
OK, I'll give them this one.

"professionals"
One more time HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

"single and live alone"
Yeah, that's me.

Out of 11 qualifiers, they got 2 correct.

I'm really sick of people trying to pinhole the Dean supporters. We are as varied as any group of people you might find together. Young, old, rich, middle class, working poor, professional, blue-collar, Ford, Honda, VW Van, Chevy Suburban drivers.

This article just proves how out of touch the press truly is. They need to get off their Gucci covered asses, slip on their Tommy Hilfiger shoes and go out and TALK to some of us.

Oh damn, now *I* made a generalization! :eyes: