Limousine Liberals and Country Club Conservatives are Destroying America's Moderates

Both have several things in common: money, education and power. 

Stephen Helgesen | August 25, 2026

It should be no secret to anyone following American politics that one group of people more than any other is responsible for the demise of moderates within both the Democratic and Republican Parties.

Some might call them renegades, mavericks, rogue elements or radicals who are challenging their party's core fundamentals and its more moderate members. The truth is that the guilty group is the same in both political parties but known by different names.

On the left are the "limousine liberals" and on the right are the "country club conservatives." Both have several things in common: money, education and power. Some of them have inherited wealth and some have accumulated it by using the capitalist system to their advantage.  That said, both have one BIG thing in common. They are the products of the American education system and many are living privileged lives.

If we look at higher education as one element of registered voters in recent Pew Research studies, we will find that 55% of those identifying themselves as Democrats have at least a Bachelor's degree or higher. That figure is 42% for the Republican group. And when it comes to postgraduate degrees, that figure jumps to 61% for Democrats and falls to 37% for Republicans.

On the wealth spectrum, that same 2024 study found that the educated elites of the Democrat party hold a substantial share of America's high-income wealth while the Republicans are property-owners and commercially affluent Americans.

Based on that study and many others it is tempting to make the case that having a good education helps in wealth generation and that human nature would dictate that wealthy people will vote in their own self-interests to retain their........

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