Yes, yes, I heard from Professor Gelman too — thank you, Jim. You have well and truly schooled me. And I was indeed writing impressionistically and rhetorically — saying I was taught that the Republican party was the party of the rich, and the Democrats the party of the common man, pure and simple. I was meaning to say: When I grew up, I realized it wasn’t so simple. And, yes, I was writing as a journalist and observer, not as a statistician. When I want to write less breezily and more scientifically — well, that will be pretty clear (I hope).

Now that Vermont is out of the way: Do you care to comment on the voting habits of the Manhattan rich?

P.S. I remember, years ago, I was working at a golf course in my hometown of Ann Arbor — making minimum wage. And I’d have to hear, quite frequently, from wealthy golfers, that the Republican party was the party of the rich. I just gritted my teeth: and voted for every R I could find.

P.P.S. Today, I constantly hear — from Manhattanites who could buy and sell me a thousand times over — that the Republican party is simply the party of the greedy, selfish rich. My teeth are about down to the nubs!