The Daily Signal - SHOCKER: Elites Favor Limiting Voting to College Graduates

Episode Date: May 24, 2024

New polling from Scott Rasmussen reveals that America's elite 1%—those with high incomes, urban residences, and postgraduate degrees—are significantly out of step with the rest of the country on a range of issues. It’s a troubling trend for America, and it doesn’t bode well for our future considering the elite 1% occupy many of the leadership roles in our cultural, educational, and government institutions. There's perhaps no statistic more shocking than the 69% of politically obsessed elites who think it would be better if only people with college degrees could vote. By comparison, just 15% of all voters hold that view. (Rasmussen defines "politically obsessed" as elites who talk about politics every day.) Rasmussen's latest survey, conducted by RMG Research, asked other questions ranging from government censorship to gun ownership. On nearly every issue, there's a wide gulf between the ruling class and everyday Americans. You can learn more about work on the elite 1% by tuning into "The Scott Rasmussen Show," which airs Sunday at 10 a.m. ET on Merit Street Media. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feeling festive. Catch classic holiday favorites like Home Alone, the Santa Claus and Die Hard, along with holiday episodes from Family Guy, Abbott Elementary, and more with Hulu on Disney Plus. From festive Disney flicks to binge-worthy Hulu originals, Hulu on Disney Plus is your home for the holidays. Celebrate the season with Hulu, available on Disney Plus in Canada. This is the Daily Signal podcast for Friday, May 24th. I'm your host, Rob Louis. New polling from Scott Rasmussen reveals a significant portion of America's elite 1%.

Those with high incomes, urban residences, and postgraduate degrees are significantly out of step with the rest of the country on a range of issues. It's a troubling trend for America and it doesn't bode well for our future, considering that many of those occupying the elite 1% are in cultural and government institutions leading this country. Rasmussen asked questions ranging from government censorship to who should be permitted to vote in elections. His findings are shocking. They reveal a wide gulf between the ruling class and everyday Americans. He returned to the Daily Signal podcast today for an update on his latest polling. Stay tuned for our interview right after this. Looking for quick conservative policy solutions to current issues from America's outpost here in Washington,

sign up for Heritage's weekly newsletter, The Agenda. You'll get top conservative research, a rundown of important events happening here at Heritage that you can watch online and hot takes from our experts. Sign up at heritage.org slash agenda or at the link in the show notes. We're joined at The Daily Signal by Scott Rasmussen. He's the president of RMG Research

and host of the Scott Rasmussen show. Scott, thanks so much for coming back to the Daily Signal today. Rob, it's always a pleasure to speak with you and especially talking about the elite 1% one of my favorite topics these days. It is, and you have some new polling data for us, and I know how popular our previous interview was when you shared some of the data. I think in part because you're one of the few pollsters who's actually talking to this group, maybe the only pollster that is doing this type of research. And so understanding how they think, given their important role in our society and the influential organizations or institutions that they run is really helpful.

I want to delve into the numbers, but I think it would be helpful if you could first remind our listeners, who the elite 1% are? Yes, so the elite 1% are people who have a postgraduate degree, and that's a very important distinction. You know, you hear a lot in politics these days about the diploma divide. People with a degree tend to be more democratic, people that agree more Republican. But in truth, the biggest gap is between people with a postgraduate degree and the rest of America.

So they have a postgraduate degree. They also tend to live in densely populated urban areas. The definition we use is 10,000 people per square mile in your zip code, which means we're talking about places like Manhattan, not urban centers in rural states. And then the final attribute is they make at least $150,000 a year. Those people with all three of those make up about 1% of the population. And then within that group, there's those that we call the politically obsessed elites. And these are members of the elite 1% who talk politics. every single day.

Yes, and their opinions do differ in many ways from the everyday American. What are some of the big headlines coming out of your latest research? Well, as a reminder, the last time we talked a little bit about how the elite 1% and especially the politically obsessed elites think the American people have too much individual freedom and also people in this elite world really trust the federal government. What we did this time is we began to ask some of these same groups, the elite 1% and the obsessed members, where they think the American people are. You know, what do they think America looks like? And I think the perhaps funniest finding of all is we asked the question, we know nobody agreed, no two people agree on everything, but do most Americans agree with you on most important issues?

Now, if we ask voters about half say, yeah, yeah, I think most people agree with me. Among the politically obsessed elites, 82% of that group thinks that most Americans agree with them on most issues. It's not even close to true, but they're looking in a mirror. They see what they want to see. And what's scary about that, if you think about it, Rob, in context of, say, the administrative state, if these people believe that their views are representative of America, it justifies them cheating a little bit or bending the rules because they can say, we're fighting for the American people,

when in fact they're fighting against the American people. Scott, are there particular policy issues where you see that playing out more so than others? I mean, for instance, one that comes to my mind may be climate change. But I'm wondering if in your research you've discovered other areas where the elite think that the American people are with them when maybe they're really not. Well, I think it's actually harder to find places where the American people are with them than the other examples. You mentioned climate change. Well, about two out of three of this politically obsessed elite think that most voters are willing to pay $250 a year or more to fight climate change.

And when we actually do polling to ask people how much they're willing to pay in terms of taxes or higher prices, About half say they're not willing to pay anything. And 72% say nothing more than $100. So if you think about that in a policy sense, these influencers believe the American people are willing to pay something they're not, and that's why they can support some different policy ideas. But look, it starts with a very basic thing.

71% of the politically obsessed elites think most Americans trust the federal government, most of the time. That has not been true for 50 years. It's been a half century since people tended to trust the government that much. Today, only 22% of voters voiced that much trust in government. And that, I think, is one of the core distinctions. If you trust the federal government, you trust the regulatory apparatus a lot more. You trust other rules and regulations, and voters just aren't there. I know another area that you polled had to do with social media. and maybe government control of social media.

Obviously, we're all using social media in some form these days, whether it's Facebook or X or Instagram or YouTube. What did you find when you surveyed this elite 1% group on that particular topic? You know, in general, everybody, whether you're in the elite or not, has some concern about disinformation and fake news. Where the difference comes is what to do about it. Among most voters, they say that having the government, decide what is misinformation and fake news is a bigger threat than the fake news itself.

Among the elites, they say just the opposite. When you start talking about different aspects of this issue, one of the questions comes up, should the federal government be allowed to censor social media posts? Well, among all voters, 16% say yes. Among the politically obsessed elites, just over 50% say, of course, should have the right to censor social media. Fundamentally different views, and I, look, I've got to say it because it comes through in all of our data, the views of the elite 1% amount to a rejection of America's founding ideals. You know, even on something as simple as, does the federal government listen too much or not enough to the American people? Overwhelmingly, voters say the government's not listening to us, and the elites are saying, oh, it's listening too much.

Well, and this is one of the reasons why I personally appreciate the work you're doing at RMG research, because you are trying to discover what the American people are saying and what values they have, what they do care about. You know, another area that is obviously topical because we're in an election year is voting. And there seems to be a wide discrepancy of views when it comes to who should vote and who should have a say in our country's future. that number, to me, was one that stood out and was quite alarming. Absolutely alarming. Rob, I've never known you to understate things so much.

You know, we ask a question that seemed to me to be absurd, which is, would it be better for America if only people with a college degree were allowed to vote? And appropriately, most Americans just soundly reject that idea. I mean, we're supposed to be governed by consent of the government, but among the elites, they heavily believe, yes, this country would be better off if all those deplorables who didn't go to college weren't allowed to vote. But it's of a piece with some other data that's in the survey. You know, it's just this sense of some people should be ruling over others. Yes. Well, and one issue where there's also, you know, quite a big disparity is gun ownership, Second Amendment rights.

Walk us through some of the data in terms of how the elite view guns and whether they should. should be outlawed versus all Americans? Well, before we even talk about should they be outlawed, a question that we have been asking for years of voters is, would you rather live in a community where guns are allowed or where guns are outlawed? And consistently, for decades, voters say we want to live in a community where guns are allowed. Sometimes it's in the low 60s, sometimes after a horrific shooting event, it moves down to the low 50s, but consistently a majority of Americans support that basic Second Amendment concept.

Among the elite 1%, that politically obsessed portion of it, about 70% of them say, no, no, no, no, we want to live where guns are outlawed. 76% of them want to ban the private ownership of guns. So we have a nation that is embracing the idea that they want, you know, look, people understand all of the issues involved, and it's different to New York City. than it is in rural Nebraska, but voters overwhelmingly and consistently say we want to live where guns are allowed. The elites don't believe that. But here's the part that gets a little scary. Most members of the politically obsessed elite believe that the American people, a majority of them, want to live where guns are outlawed. And so again, Rob, you know, I mentioned earlier that there's this, that this is a dangerous set of

delusions. If you are in that politically obsessed elite and you believe strongly that we should ban guns, and if you believe that most American people want to live in a community where guns are outlawed, well, then you take an almost religious fervor to the fight to ban guns because you can convince yourself you're fighting on behalf of the public. And once again, you're actually fighting against what the American people are looking for. Scott, I'm curious, you know, we've always in this country probably had an elite 1%, you know, a group of people who were very influential, whether it be in terms of leading institutions of higher education or corporations or even our own government. But it seems that the differences of

opinion are so stark today. Do you feel that their elite 1% are more out of touch in 2024 than maybe they were in past generations? You know, first of all, I don't have data from past generations, so I can't make a clear assessment on that. But I think it's probably a little bit different. There have always been elites. You know, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were clearly elites of their era, but they also had a commitment to something larger than themselves.

You know, Thomas Jefferson in writing the Declaration of Independence said he was just articulating what the American people were feeling. At the same time, Alexander Hamilton spoke at the Constitutional Convention, outlined his plan for government, and basically, after the revolution, after the declaration, he said, we need to establish a monarchy. If you actually read his plan, it's horrific. So there have always been some people in elites who kind of rejected the founding ideals, who rejected the concepts of the Declaration of Independence. I think what's changed in the last couple of generations are two things. Number one, we're a little bit more sorted geographically.

So members of the elites aren't encountering non-elites on a regular basis. And even things, it's not just we live in gated communities or separate areas. public transportation has been replaced by Uber. So there's not a lot of contact with people who aren't like you. And the second part is there has been the rise of what a lot of people view as the global elite, where people begin to see others from other countries as more like them than they do their own countrymen. And so I think the elite 1% today is just part of the continuing tradition of people who have always rejected America's founding ideals. but now they have a couple of different things that are maybe separating them a little bit more.

Oh, I think you're absolutely spot on. And I know we don't have a lot of data from previous generations to make a definitive point here. But even in our own observations or anecdotally in my own life, I see it. I mean, I think, frankly, people have the ability to determine what news they want to see or read. And if they are, if they don't want to, for instance, pay attention to the daily signal. well, they have an easy way to just ignore it. Whereas in the past, you know, maybe there wasn't those same situations. So it's definitely a few.

And by the way, Rob, I think there's another part of it too, which is, again, just anecdotal. But in World War II, you know, Joseph Kennedy, John Kennedy's older brother, went to war and was killed. Franklin Roosevelt's son, the President of United States, was fighting in that war. there was a sense of commitment that all society took part in. And so that's something that I think has been lost. Let's go back to some of the data. You know, the use of pronouns has become quite pronounced in a lot of corporate settings. Even in our federal government, there are some departments and agencies that now included in all email signatures and things of that nature.

seems that there's also some discrepancy between what the elites view on pronouns and the rest of Americans. Yeah, well, you know, let's start with the fact that most Americans don't even know what you're talking about when you're describing, you know, expressing your preferred pronouns. Only about one out of ten voters has ever introduced themselves in that manner. And so when they hear talk of it, it seems very foreign, very like, where's this coming from? But among the politically obsessed elite, about 60%, 61% have introduced themselves using, by expressing their preferred pronouns. And it's really hard to overstate the cultural difference that that represents. So if you're in this elite world, if you're in the elite schools or in many aspects,

many agencies of the federal government, it is absolutely normal. And then everyday occurrence that you meet somebody and they, tell you not only their name and their position, but their preferred pronouns. In the rest of America, that just doesn't happen. And so when you get into discussions about misgendering somebody, you know, there's regulations being pushed right now that would require employers to punish somebody for misgendering, for not using somebody's preferred pronouns. Only 9% of voters think that's a fireable offense. But even, even Even more than that, they don't even know what the discussion is about.

And again, this is where that glaring gap between the elites and most Americans is quite visible. It is the cultural world they're in, whether we're talking about guns or climate change policies or preferred pronouns, or even the topic of, you know, should biological males be allowed to play in women's sports? the politically obsessed elite, 41% say they should. Now, that's not a majority, but essentially, the politically obsessed elite is divided, evenly divided on this question, whereas to most Americans, it's ridiculous. Of course, biological males have a physical advantage. Of course, it is dangerous

to let biological males into the women's locker room, but the elite is having a discussion about it that is out of step with the country. And, you know, I don't mean to keep coming back to this one point, but it is dangerous, not just that the, it's fine to have different views. We all live on our own bubbles. Your bubble's a little different than mine, but probably has some overlap. But you have to be able to look outside your bubble and see what the rest of the country is doing. If you're in this elite world, then you have enormous influence and you think your views are reflecting the public at large. That's a really dangerous combination. Scott, one of the most notable examples of the last decade, at least that comes to my mind,

is when Donald Trump was elected president. It seemed that the elites were in shock. And I'm just curious, your thoughts on what might happen if Trump is victorious in November and how they might react in that situation. Well, you know, let's go back to why they were shocked the first time. You know, during the 2016 election, every week I went on Fox News and had an electoral college map and was supposed to show his path to electoral college victory. And every week, I pretty much said the same thing. It's easy to see him getting to 263 electoral college votes. There's only three places he could go over the top, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

And, you know, if you want a sports analogy, if the trailing team is close enough, they can always put up a buzzer beaters. So there was always a chance. but nobody in the in the political punditry except maybe pat cadell thought that was a serious possibility in the green room on that morning most of the on the election day 2016 most of the conversation was Hillary's up by three in the polls but there's a margin of error she'll probably win by six so there was a shock but it wasn't it was simply because they couldn't believe it they couldn't imagine what was happening. And because in their mind, Hillary Clinton was, you know, the ideally

prepared person. Looking ahead to this year, first thing I will tell you is if the election is at all close, the way the last nine elections have been in, whichever team loses will believe the election will stall. So if Donald Trump wins, we will hear an awful lot about how he stole the election from these elites, from this world. But I think something else. is happening that's playing a part in getting up to the election. It's a distorted view of the public. When we see the campus protests about the Palestinian situation, 62% of the elites think have a favorable opinion. They think it's great what these protesters are doing. Most voters don't. Only 24% of voters support them. So that leads the pundits to misread the way

situation is playing out. In fact, since the campus protest started, support for Israel has gone up, not what some of the protesters might have hoped for. This is a long way around saying, I think a lot of the elites are misreading the dynamics going on right now. About 80% of the elite 1% approval the way Joe Biden is doing his job. So the only way they can rationalize that he might lose is by saying people don't remember Donald Trump. People don't know about him. We need to, we needed to remind them. And I don't think that's the problem at all. The problem is that four years ago, they didn't know Joe Biden. And now they've seen four years of Biden and four years of Trump. And Trump, at least as of today, is leading in that race. Scott, let me ask you this.

You've done this research now for several months. This is your latest survey. What kind of reaction, if any, do you get from members of the elite 1% to your findings? Well, you know, we got a lot of coverage, a lot of chatter on sites that are from locations that are generally associated with the politically political right. Kim Strassel did a nice piece in the Wall Street Journal and you and I did our podcast earlier. Newt Gingrich and I did a podcast. hasn't been a lot of commentary from the other side of the aisle. If I speak to groups, if I speak to audiences that are in elite settings,

I do take care to point out that not all elites have these horrible thoughts. If you happen to disagree with them, maybe you should step up and raise your voice a little bit more. But one of the things that I'm working on, and I'm hopeful it'll happen this fall, is getting a chance to present some of these findings at a couple of our elite universities where the discussion I expect would be lively after the fact. I certainly think it would. Scott, before we let you go, want to thank the Napolitan Institute for their work with you and RMG research to make this polling possible, but also give our listeners an opportunity

to hear about your new show, how they can tune in and watch. Yeah, the Scott Rasmussen show airs Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. Eastern on Merritt Street Media. Now, you can find the show just about anywhere. It's on dish. It's on cable. It's on direct TV. But if you really want to find out, go to Merrittstreetmedia.com, and they have a handy channel finder. And, of course, we have an app that you can download and watch the show anytime. This week, we'll be talking, this Sunday we'll be talking about. the delusions of the elite 1% and a number of other issues. It's a fast 30 minutes, and Edie Hill is my co-host, and we cover a lot of ground. Excellent.

Well, we'll be sure to include a link so that our viewers and readers can tune in, download the app, and follow your work. Thank you so much for all that you're doing. It's a joy to have you back on the Daily Signal today, and we'll certainly be keeping an eye out for the next Elite 1% server that you do in the future. Look forward to it, Rob. Have a great day. Thank you. And that'll do it for today's episode. Thank you for listening to The Daily Signal podcast.

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