Are Democrats in touch with the average voter? Do they feel our "pain"?

Question

FYI: The top 3 richest Senators are DEMOCRATS:

The top three wealthiest senators are Democrats: John Kerry of Massachusetts, with a net worth of at least $164 million; Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, with a net worth of at least $111 million, and John "Jay" Rockefeller of West Virginia, with an estimated net worth of at least $82 million.

Senate millionaires

John Kerry, D-Massachusetts: $163,626,399

Herb Kohl, D-Wisconsin: $111,015,016

John Rockefeller, D -West Virginia: $81,648,018

Jon Corzine, D-New Jersey: $71,035,025

Dianne Feinstein, D-California: $26,377,109

Frank Lautenberg, D-New Jersey $17,789,018

John Edwards, D-North Carolina: $12,844,029

Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts: $9,905,009

Jeff Bingaman, D-New Mexico: $7,981,015

Answer 1

Not sure what you are getting at, but for the last 40 years, since the transition of the 2 parties to their current Ideology's,  the Democratic Party has always championed the cause of the average Man (and Woman)...

Don't  get it twisted!!!

Answer 2

Gee, none of them are running for president.  BTW, how in touch is McCain when he says middle class is anyone who earns less than $5,000,000 a year?

Answer 3

Yes it's funny, most of the people you have mentioned are champions of the middle-working-class. I guess when Democrats get wealthy they don't forget where they came from.... Republicans, on the other hand, want to take advantage of their positions to make themselves and their friends more wealthy.  Thanks for pointing that out!

Answer 4

well considering they have lost the last two elections.....im gonna say no..

i always chuckle when i hear on of those rick old white guys talk about how republicans dont get it....

Answer 5

Actually Democrats are the average voter. I am glad these millionaires haven't forgotten about the common man

Answer 6

More than the repulicans---Obama has one home--Biden has one home and lives simple in Delaware--close the once known middle class america--that is fading away because of Bush Jr---McSame has---Hmmmm ???? How many house's --he can't count-----Palin over spends in Alaska ----So Yeah Democrats are more in touch with the fading away of the middle class.

OBAMA   08

Answer 7

This question cuts both ways it seems you have left the Republicans of the list.

BTW: you have co-mingled fortunes like John Kerry's money is actually his wife's money which came from Republican senator John Heinz.

John D. Rockerfeller fortune was established over a 100 years ago. Edwards who is no longer a senator earned his through his legal practice and grew up impoverished.

Republican Senate Millionaires:

If Kerry's wife's money counts so does John McCain wife Cindy McCain which is over $200 Million but without her money McCain is worth $40.4 million and should I remind you about the Gucci loafers incident while campaigning?

Bob Corker, (R) TN, boasts an estimated $64 million to $236 million fortune, according to the financial disclosure he filed to the Senate.

Lincoln Chaffee of Rhode Island, is hardly hurting for cash himself: He has $4 million to $14 million parked in various trusts and funds.

Amo Houghton (R.) NY Net Worth: $475

Darrell Issa (R) C Est. Range: $158,580,056to $516,300,001

Vernon Buchanan (R) FL Est. Range: $-$191,695,634

Robin Hayes (R) NC Est. Range: $32,122,164 to $132,981,999

Rodney Frelinghuysen (R) NJ Est Range: $22,766,190to $76,265,000

Elizabeth Dole (R) NC Est. Range: $18,523,145to $69,211,000

Michael McCaul (R) TX. Est. Range: $17,409,136to $75,888,000

You fail to mention how they earned this money and though the affluence of today's Senate might seem staggering, it is hardly out of the ordinary for Congress' elite upper chamber. Overall, senators have historically been wealthier. The peak of Senate wealth probably came in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when wealthy businessmen like George Hearst, the father of newspaperman William Randolph Hearst, and Simon Guggenheim were members. (1)

Millionaires are more common today thanks to inflation, lots of members in the 19th century Senate would have been multimillionaires in today's dollars.  Back in 1900, $100,000 was roughly equivalent to $1 million today.

So, lets look were these people are on social issues issue sthat affect the poor like how many Republicans voted against raising the min. wage, against the con't of S-CHIP which provides health insurance to cildren. These are average voter issues.

Answer 8

Interesting that you didn't include any republicans in your list of wealthy senators.....as you know, John McCain ranks higher than over half of them, at 38 million......and Obama and Biden are at the very bottom of the list of senators by wealth.

Answer 9

Yes, George Bush and John McCain are both obviously impoverished. Obama's modest fortune comes from selling his book, and is a newly acquired wealth.