DC Hotshots More Optimistic Than Public

Wealthy Washingtonians are out of sync with the rest of the country on a host of issues, according to a new poll. Politico surveyed 227 “Washington elites”—meaning DC residents who make at least $75,000 a year, and work in politics in some form—and found a group much more optimistic than the rest of the country. More of the elites said the country was on the right track (49%) than on the wrong one (45%); in a national poll, 61% went with “wrong track.”

The elites also like President Obama a lot more, and Sarah Palin a lot less, than the rest of the country does, and they view the economy in a slightly rosier light. Different issues were important to the two samples as well. Only 36% of the elite see immigration as a “very important” issue, for example, compared to 53% of the public. For “family values,” the break was even more stark—23% to 62%.