The Party of the Rich

Two friends have recently claimed to me that the Republicans in the US are the "party of the rich," and that the defeat of Romney was the defeat of the "establishment."

This strikes me as terribly naive. What establishment worth its gourmet grey sea salt would have only one candidate in a two-candidate race? That would simply be malpractice.

As to the Republicans being the party of the rich, two recent items on the web:

Obama wins 8 of 10 wealthiest counties in the US.

Who's the candidate of the rich? It's not even close.

Obama was the candidate of the government establishment, the academic establishment, the media establishment, and the established professions. Romney was the candidate of small business and entrepreneurs. Does that count as an establishment? The corporate establishment was probably divided, although in the past the Democrats have tended to do better than the Republicans on corporate donations.

As the wealthy son of a wealthy father, with two degrees from Harvard, you cannot paint Romney as an outsider. But neither was Obama, in any sense.