Why do the rich stay with Obama? Only the rich can afford him

Affluent Americans are Barack Obama's most secure class of support. They have stuck by this president at three to six times the rate of all other income groups since early 2009, based on a RealClearPolitics analysis.

It's a familiar story that wealthy voters have moved toward Democrats in recent years. But the remarkable steadiness of Obama's affluent support has continued with little notice. The national media has instead heavily covered Obama's tepid flings with populism.

You would think Obama's rich support was running to Republicans. It's not. Wall Street money has recently come to favor Republicans. But in broad terms, the affluent Obama vote has barely cracked.

Obama's approval rating has plummeted by 24 percentage points among those with a household income that is less than $50k annually. He's dropped 13 points within the $50k to $100k bloc over the same period. And he's fallen 17 points within the $100k to $150k bloc.

What about those households with income exceeding $150k? Obama has merely declined 4 points, based upon Gallup polling from February-March 2009 (after Obama's honeymoon ended) to June-July 2010.

Obama has tested his upper class support more than any modern presidency. He's continuously pledged to oppose tax hikes on everyone but the wealthy. That pledge is at the center of the current debate over extending the Bush tax cuts. The healthcare overhaul will increase wealthy voters' tax burden. And financial reform was hardly celebrated by the investing class.

This is why The Wall Street Journal headlined a story last summer, "Democrats' New Worry: Their Own Rich Voters." But polls have continuously shown that Democrats have far more reason to worry about those who are anything but rich. This is partly because upper class Democrats are not voting on tax policy. If they were, they'd be Republicans.