I can't start a poll; but, ...

[1StrongBlackMan]

How many here are philosophical opposed to, or just put off by, a millionaire being the Democratic nominee for President?

[onehandle]

1. Barack Obama Net Worth: $12.2 Million

The 44th president of the United States, author and the most popular person in the world, Barack Hussein Obama II, has an estimated net worth of $12.2 million. Excluding the $1.4 million in Nobel Prize money he donated to charity and his primary home.

His historic run for the presidency helped him sell millions of copies of his two books, Dreams of My Father and The Audacity of Hope, during the campaign. He sold another 100,000 copies the week following his election. In 2009, the president earned an advance for an abridged version of Dreams for young adults; the deal made him the first sitting president in recent memory to receive a book advance while in office. The real money will be made years from now: Obama could certainly earn tens of millions of dollars a year giving speeches full time.

President Barack Obama’s base salary is $400,000 a year. He also has access to a $150,000 expense account as well as a $100,000 tax free travel account and $20,000 entertainment budget.

Obama served three terms in the Illinois Senate, and is the first African American President of the United States. Obama was born August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii, and is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School.

http://www.therichest.com/celebnetworth/politician/president/barack-obama-net-worth

[hopemountain]

27. you are correct

Last edited Sat Feb 28, 2015, 11:14 PM - Edit history (1)

humble pie.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

30. That arguably makes it worse if you think about it./NT

[hopemountain]

37. i don't understand your reasoning

i don't think there has been an american president in my lifetime who did not make millions once elected. nothing wrong with making millions - as long as it is not from exploiting the poor or indefensible.

[DrDan]

31. he was a millionaire prior to the election

[hopemountain]

36. you are correct.

humble pie.

[NYC_SKP]

2. To me, it's practically a disqualifier.

And definitely a put off.

PS, a millionaire isn't what it used to be, but a billionaire is still too rare.

I would draw the line at double digit millions in net worth, or thereabouts.

[DrDan]

14. so Ted Kennedy would not get your support . . . why would simply the size of one's wealth

be a determinant?

[zappaman]

3. Sorry, but I still like Elizabeth Warren.

Senator Elizabeth Warren fights for middle- and working-class Americans. But she's part of the Top 1%.
Warren, the Harvard bankruptcy law professor elected to the Senate in 2012, is worth between $3.7 million and $10 million.

That's not including the three-story Victorian home in Cambridge, Mass., that she owns with her husband and fellow Harvard law professor, Bruce Mann. It's now assessed at $1.9 million, according to city property records.

While she's not in the uppermost wealth echelon of Congress, she's not doing too badly either. Roll Call recently ranked her the 76th wealthiest out of 541 senators and representatives, based on her minimum net worth in 2013.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/08/news/economy/elizabeth-warren-wealth/

[1StrongBlackMan]

5. I wish you hadn't posted that. n/t

[hopemountain]

28. but, she is not one of the 1% of the 1%

sorry, could not resist - (jon stewart comedy from wed 2.24.15)

[Takket]

4. Not me

I can think of plenty of millionaires that are great progressives.

it is the major corporate billionaires I would never want any part of.

[DrDan]

8. Warren Buffett's religious and political views are in-sync with many here

[DrDan]

6. millionaire? nope . . . .

I don't think wealth alone should be shunned by us

[LiberalElite]

13. If it were, I'd expect we'd have fewer choices -

besides which, the Kennedys weren't exactly paupers.

[DrDan]

16. I just don't get why one would say - "He is too rich - I won't vote for him"

or being "put off" by someone's wealth.

Sounds like someone yellow with jealousy to me.

[LiberalElite]

20. perhaps - or they could just believe that

this rich person wouldn't have a clue as to their problems.

[Scootaloo]

7. I'm philosophically opposed to the "Liberals hate wealth" right-wing meme, if that helps

The answer to the question is, "depends on the millionaire."

[Tuesday Afternoon]

32. ^this^

[bravenak]

9. Depends on who it is and how they carry themselves.

A Mitt type of baby stepping rich person. No. Somebody else, maybe, we should be able to discuss what they are about.

[Rex]

10. Is the person running James Dimon?

Seriously, what is so hard to get about people disliking corrupt rich people? So far I don't know of any Dem POTUS or potential that has destroyed the economy so I don't have a problem with a Dem millionaire POTUS yet.

[panader0]

11. I thought you had to be a millionaire to be President?

[TDale313]

12. We've had great Democratic presidents who were wealthy.

FDR and JFK come to mind. They used their positions to help make sure the playing field was a bit more level. Wealth itself is not the problem. But honestly, how do we start to get the huge amount of money currently corrupting the system out of politics? How do we clean up our elections? Cause until we do nothing else is gonna change. Even the best politicians have to spend too much time trying not to piss off the interests who can write them the checks they need to win the next election.

[Nye Bevan]

15. Who was the most recent non-millionaire serious Democratic presidential candidate?

Even Howard Dean is worth millions.

[DrDan]

17. had to have been Bill Clinton

[neverforget]

18. If they're not rich upon being elected President, they will be soon after they

leave

[Yorktown]

19. 10% of Americans are/will be millionaires

1 In 20 US Households Has Over A Million In Assets (real estate EXCLUDED)

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-01-18/1-20-us-households-has-over-million-assets-where-they-are

Account for the fact the young who are on their way up (the 20-40 age group),

you probably have 10% of Americans who will have one million USD in liquid assets.


With the level of ability (and age) expected of a national politician,

it would be extremely unlikely for any of them not to be in the top 5-10%.

[Downwinder]

21. FDR was of the 1%.

[Jamaal510]

22. A person

damn near has to be a millionaire to run for office and be competitive these days. That would be a stupid reason not to vote for somebody. Not all so-called 1%ers are corrupt, and not all so-called 99%ers have the best interests in mind of others (see rank-and-file Republican voters).

[JustAnotherGen]

23. I'm not at all n/t

[McCamy Taylor]

24. FDR and Jack Kennedy...if I could go back in time and unelect them...

...I would not do it. Silly, some of the best leaders are rich. They are beholden to no one.

[McCamy Taylor]

25. In order to make sure he or she can not be bought, I want a BILLIONAIRE to run.

[Kalidurga]

26. How much money a person has isn't the problem

it is when they use their money to do things like buy votes. Or when they use it to avoid consequences other people would face for doing the same thing, like some guy making sure his daughter doesn't go to jail for possessing illegal drugs all the while making tough laws against possessing drugs for other people. Those things are disqualifiers IMO, I don't know of any Democrats that do that. Also I don't like when anyone preens too much, but that is a separate issue.

[pampango]

29. CPAC attendee: I don’t believe in having political positions being filled by money. I want a regular

citizen politician. "

“We don’t need an aristocracy in this country,” said Jayme Allan, an attendee from Massachusetts. “Jeb Bush, honestly, he’s a member of the elite. I don’t believe in having political positions being filled by money. I want to be represented. I want a regular citizen politician.”

Allan scoffed at the idea that Bush was a frontrunner among prospective Republican presidential candidates.

“He’s not the frontrunner,” she said. “That is media – the media is owned. I don’t watch mainstream media. I listen to independent media, that’s where I get the truth. I am not going to be told what to think.”

A mention of Bush’s name by Donald Trump drew boos as loud as any that greeted mention of the president. “He’s in favour of Common Core. He’s weak on immigration,” said the real-estate mogul turned reality TV star turned potential 2016 candidate. “You’re going to have to make your own decision.”

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/27/jeb-bush-gets-bumpy-ride-from-cpac-activists-suspicious-of-elite-candidate

There are similar sentiments everywhere.

[MH1]

33. Not me, although it does raise flags to be checked.

On the other hand, in our current system, I have a hard time thinking that anyone who ISN'T a millionaire would even have a chance to win.

So I'd check those flags, but assuming they check out as reasonable to me, I would support the person if they met my standards in enough of the most important policy areas.

The bottom line is whether they will be trying to move the country in the direction I prefer, in the areas that matter to me. How much money they have in the bank is only relevant to the extent it affects their electability.

[valerief]

34. Until there's campaign reform, how can a candidate NOT be a multi-millionaire? nt

[Rhiannon12866]

35. The sad fact is that, these days, you have to have millions to even run

I think that's a serious problem. But I also think that background counts for more than what a candidate's worth today. Successful people tend to make more money. For example, Barack Obama didn't grow up wealthy, nor did John Kerry. He sold encyclopedias door-to-door to put himself through school. Mitt Romney and George Bush*, on the other hand... I think values are more important than net worth.

[lpbk2713]

38. George Washington was wealthy in his time.

He certainly wasn't a Dem but he would have been the equivalent of a millionaire.