Since 1968, did each loser come off as more elitist?

[Agonized-Statism]

The problem is that's kind of subjective. Reagan, for example, was seen (ridiculously) by many poor whites as an underdog against elite special interests, but by his opponents as the candidate of capitalist excess. And there's definitely exceptions- McGovern was the hippie candidate, Carter was the candidate of the sticks, and Reagan's underdog image definitely didn't extend to George H.W. Bush even among his supporters.

[RINO Tom]

Obama also kinda gave off an "elitist" vibe tbh. Not as much as Romney, but maybe more than McCain.

Also IDK if I'd call McGovern or even Humphrey more "elitist" than Nixon in any meaningful sense.

I get what you're saying but I still think "charisma" is the big factor in this period more than anything else. Even then, Nixon is kind of an exception. And in 1988, neither candidate was charismatic.

Obama seemed more “personally elitist” than McCain (wow, we’ve gotten into really strange terms here, lol), but his campaign/person certainly wasn’t.  I mean, the GOP literally couldn’t get away from the image of “pro-business party causes Great Recession” no matter how hard they tried, and Obama definitely leaned into it.

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

Obama also kinda gave off an "elitist" vibe tbh. Not as much as Romney, but maybe more than McCain.

Also IDK if I'd call McGovern or even Humphrey more "elitist" than Nixon in any meaningful sense.

I get what you're saying but I still think "charisma" is the big factor in this period more than anything else. Even then, Nixon is kind of an exception. And in 1988, neither candidate was charismatic.

Obama seemed more “personally elitist” than McCain (wow, we’ve gotten into really strange terms here, lol), but his campaign/person certainly wasn’t.  I mean, the GOP literally couldn’t get away from the image of “pro-business party causes Great Recession” no matter how hard they tried, and Obama definitely leaned into it.

Obama was a constitutional law professor, so he had a problem of speaking to a crowd like he was lecturing his students.

[HillGoose]

i think in every election since 1968 (with the exceptions of like 1976 and 2012, but even then i'm not 100% sure on those) the Democrat has been portrayed as an "elitist" while the Republican is portrayed as the guy people want to have a beer with.

[Del Tachi]

Obama also kinda gave off an "elitist" vibe tbh. Not as much as Romney, but maybe more than McCain.

Also IDK if I'd call McGovern or even Humphrey more "elitist" than Nixon in any meaningful sense.

I get what you're saying but I still think "charisma" is the big factor in this period more than anything else. Even then, Nixon is kind of an exception. And in 1988, neither candidate was charismatic.

Obama seemed more “personally elitist” than McCain (wow, we’ve gotten into really strange terms here, lol), but his campaign/person certainly wasn’t.  I mean, the GOP literally couldn’t get away from the image of “pro-business party causes Great Recession” no matter how hard they tried, and Obama definitely leaned into it.

McCain was more fiscally elitist, Obama socially elitist

[dw93]

i think in every election since 1968 (with the exceptions of like 1976 and 2012, but even then i'm not 100% sure on those) the Democrat has been portrayed as an "elitist" while the Republican is portrayed as the guy people want to have a beer with.

I would throw 1992 and 1996 into the loop of exceptions too.