well put.
I am on long island, and that is exactly the trend. The professionals now work in essentially non-productive industries - they make their money off "the system", and seek those in government who will keep feeding that system. Anyone who talks about tort reform, or litigation reform to lower insurance rates, or medical savings accounts, or accountability from wall street - isn't going to play too well here.
I have always felt that if there is a "hidden" vote in this 2004 election that will break against Bush - this is where it is coming from. But then again, Kerry has been so inept at framing even the simplest argument here, that it probably will not materialize.
Except for the newest Gullup Poll, Bush has been at 45% in the polls for months, not great territory for incumbents, and Kerry might be inept, but at least as of yet, he hasnt been as inept as Dukakis was. Going into the details of the polls I have been able to get access to to see their internals, lower income white male voters are the biggest drop off among Bushes supporters. Bush is in the low 50s in the white male vote, he needs it to be at least 10 points higher.