Compared to 2004, the 2006 electorate was higher in income and whiter, and more religious, male, married and rural.

The median voter was 13.4% wealthier than in 2004; the share of the electorate with household incomes greater than $75,000 increased from 32.3% to 38.3%. The share of whites grew from 77.0% to 79.0%, while the share of African-Americans and Hispanics fell by 1.9-points and 0.3-points respectively. The share of males went from 46.3% to 48.3%, and the share of married voters stepped up from 63.3% to 68.1%. Turn out among regular churchgoers (up 2.7-points), Evangelicals (up 0.5-points), and rural voters (up 2.8-points) all increased.

One would expect that these demographic shifts would have helped congressional Republicans. Yet not only did Democrats win, they picked up nearly all of their new votes among those who fall into the typical Republican profile of voters.

Millions of voters from constituencies that had given up on Democrats in the past?whites, men, couples, those with higher incomes, rural Americans, and yes, even the middle class?switched sides in 2006. And relative to the rest of the electorate, Democrats received fewer votes from among much of their traditional base?African- Americans, unmarried people, and the poor.

Between 2004 and 2006, Democrats actually received fewer votes from those who felt negative about the economy and gained 6.1 million votes from those who felt good about the economy. By contrast, Democrats gained 7.6 million votes from voters who went from approval to disapproval of the war in Iraq and gained 6.7 million votes from voters who newly disapproved of President Bush.