I don't have a good excuse for my radio silence of late. I could say that I was enjoying the remarkably good SEALS conference in Florida. (Hats off to Russ Weaver!) I could also say that I'm attempting to clear up summer administrative responsibilities just in time for the fall. All would be true. But it's also true that I've been doing some procrastinating. And tonight, puttering about Huffington Post's campaign donor site, I searched for all donors (of $250 or more, to federal campaigns) who self-identified as "morticians". It turns out that these funereal folk tilt Republican. 23 Republicans donated a total of $19,885 (in large chunks) while 11 lefty grave diggers donated $7513 to Democratic candidates. I thought that might be a quirk, so I checked under the occupation "funeral director" - and found the same thing. 151 directors gave $106,530 to Republicans. 70 Dems gave $51,223. Only two "undertakers" gave the big bucks - but even there the Republicans won out, scoring a cool grand, compared to the Dem's $250.
Assuming rational action at work, and given the time value of money, this can only mean one thing. Dems are bad on death - they just don't cause enough of it!
But what about grave diggers?
Posted by: matt | August 06, 2008 at 03:27 PM
But what about grave diggers?
Posted by: matt | August 06, 2008 at 03:27 PM
Unless the funeral director was part of a roll-up of mom-n-pop funeral homes, then the donor is a small business owner. In fact, many funeral homes are family-run businesses as well. Also, funeral homes have an interest in not expanding emotional damages torts, such as negligent infliction of emotional distress. Doesn't seem surprising to me.
Posted by: Christine Hurt | August 12, 2008 at 12:11 PM