Ross Douthat notes that Matt Yglesias is having trouble duplicating the campaign contribution data that Heritage’s Mike Franc cited in his in his NRO article today. Franc wrote:
In this upside-down campaign season when populist GOP campaigners like John McCain and Mike Huckabee surprised the pundits with their primary victories or, in the case of Ron Paul, their fundraising prowess, it almost makes sense that the party of the country club set has been winning the fundraising race among the common man. That’s right. The white-shirt/red-tie brigade of Republican presidential aspirants holds a nearly three-to-one edge among janitors, custodians, cleaners, sanitation workers, factory workers, truckers, bus drivers, barbers, security guards, and secretaries. While Democrats command the financial loyalty of architects, Republicans successfully woo contributions from the skilled craftsmen who turn their blueprints into reality — specifically, contractors, hardhats, plumbers, stonemasons, electricians, carpenters mechanics, and roofers.
Yglesias complains he cannot recreate this data at the FEC website. We suggest he tries Arianna Huffington’s Fundrace 2008 where, as of this posting, if you enter in ‘electrician‘ into the occupation field you find that Republicans have raised $181,981 and the Democrats have raised $155,926.
