Friday, June 05, 2015

Blue or red?

Wonkblog (Washington Post) has reported on a Verdant Labs study of the political allegiances of persons in a multitude of professions.
Some of the political leanings shown here are unsurprising. But I hadn't thought of pawnbrokers and exterminators as particularly likely to be Republicans; on the other hand, who knew gardeners and chairwomen were likely Democrats?

Data like this is part of what determines which political online ads you see and what election mailings jam your recycling. Even the best data still sometimes leads to mistaken targeting. After all, despite the odds, I know a luxury car salesman who is a Democrat.

Follow the link to Verdant if you want to look further at how they break out categories such as academic disciplines. It's fun.

H/t Episcopal Cafe where they took note of the extremely Democratic leanings of Episcopal priests.
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3 comments:

  1. HattieSaturday, June 06, 2015 12:54:00 AM

    Union organizers are almost always Democrats. That is no surprise. I was taken aback to see that Catholic priests are mostly Republicans. Bad news for Catolics,I think.

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  2. BrandonSunday, June 07, 2015 3:41:00 PM

    I think most people aren't fervently with either party, though they'll vote mainly with one or the other. Does this poll incorporate historical data? In other words, does it show shifts in political leanings over time?

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  3. janinsanfranSunday, June 07, 2015 4:07:00 PM

    Brandon: that's a terrific question -- is there a time dimension in this data? I think not. It's a snapshot based on one cycle of campaign donation data. The company that did it is a marketing outfit.

    Hattie: Catholic priests -- hmm, maybe too many uppity women Democrats?

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