One of the more interesting narratives of the 2008 Presidential election was the liberalisation of the rich.

Rather than voting simply for lower taxes and less government, the wealthy came out in force for Barack Obama the "wealth spreader." Fully 52% of voters with incomes of $200,000 or more pulled the lever for then-Senator Obama, compared with 46% for Senator John McCain. Obama also did better than the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, John Kerry, who won only 37% of the vote from people with $200,000 or more in income. Obama raised more money than McCain in eight of the wealthiest 10 zip codes in the US.