Wellness Workers And Godly Givers: Are They Left, Right...Or Centered?

Haven't you ever wondered if your Reiki specialist leans left or right? What about your aromatherapist's feelings on the proper role of the federal government? Well, even if you haven't, the Living Now team conducted a FundRace search by occupation, and took a long, hard look at the 2008 presidential contributions of wellness specialists and spiritual leaders, updated through the just concluded 3rd Quarter.

The battle between yoga instructors and pilates gurus rages on, as the self-proclaimed yoginis offered the majority of their contributions--$1,360 in total thus far--to Obama, whereas Team Pilates is partial to Clinton, coughing up a whopping $2,750. If Obama is in it to win it, he might have to pay a little more attention to that toned, limber demographic.

Also, beware: your Yoga teacher could the one who donated $2,300 to Republican Mike Huckabee--the one who doesn't believe in evolution. That downward dog!

Personal trainers favor Obama with $2,793, while Biden and Romney are tied at $600 each. Perhaps this buff bunch was impressed by those steamy pics of the fit Democratic candidate frolicking on the beach?

Meanwhile, an aerobics instructor took the time to stop with the Jazzercise and donate $250 to the disturbingly good-looking Mitt Romney. We at Living Now were excited to see that aerobics was still happening somewhere. Now we know what do with all those leg warmers we have lying around.

Other wellness workers like nutritionists and acupuncturists have given primarily to Senator Clinton. Maybe they're the reason she looks so fab in those pant suits?

Another big giving group was the massage therapists who have contributed to a diverse group of candidates. Obama, Kucinich, Richardson and Republicans Thompson, Huckabee and Paul have all received donations, but it was Clinton who has raked in the most at $7,040.

Switching gears, while it might be a little awkward if any candidate won and then promptly thanked God, like they'd just won some sort of sports game, it is interesting to see who in the God business is giving to candidates. While wellness workers kept most of their donations under a grand, the majority of Christian leaders (priests, reverends and ministers) didn't. Oh! Except for the two people who gave to former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Current Dark Horse Ron Paul. Apparently they have a faint whiff of godlessness about them. The majority of Christian money has gone to Senator Obama ($7,708) while Republican Brownback follows ($6,100), with Senator Clinton coming in third ($5,033). She's bounced back, though, getting the majority of rabbinical donations, leading the pack with $2,500.

Apparently all the candidates have had success with Operation: Alienate Islamic-Americans as not a single imam or caliph has contributed.

Finally, we'd like to point out a group that, while they wouldn't usually fall under our auspices, we feel is important to point out, if only because it's both strange and disappointing. Poets? When did you get all Red State on us? This isn't as confusing as Log Cabin Republicans, but it is a bit perplexing. The majority of self-described bards have given to the GOP, while only one has donated to a Democrat (Obama). Your heroic couplets on Fred Thompson might scan well, but c'mon. They ain't worth $2,300.

See who is bankrolling the 2008 Presidential election. Search by name or street address to see the cash donations and political leanings of your boss, neighbors, relatives, friends, favorite celebrities and spiritual leaders with Huffington Post's FundRace.

Comments

[WilliePilgrim]

12:32 PM on 10/18/2007

Well, if we're so darned intelligent, why are we still employing the classic and outdated right-left model to our political reality when its origin and subsequent distortion through history has led us to a perception that sees only a shadow cast on a wall. The political landscape is anything but a simple line. It is complex, varaible, and subjective. The dissonance between what we know and what we see and what we're told drives us nutz. Let's start employing a new and improved model which recognizes that there is not just a left and right, but also an up and down...and in the mean time, treat investigations like this current silly one where we try to corelate occupation with this stupid left-right model as example of the just how lame it gets.

[ownsthepodium]

06:44 PM on 10/17/2007

Here's the libs segregating the population yet again. The country isn't divided; you've got the 12%'ers consisting of the huffkides et al, then the rest of the country. The rest of the country being tolerant and bipartisan.
Keep on hating, you're safe at your keyboard.

[Gary47]

09:02 AM on 10/18/2007

Thanks. You just made the same point the article does. Intelligent healthy people are in large measure liberal. That's just what happens when one is intelligent and lives healthy.

[kuastar]

07:45 PM on 10/21/2007

Slice 'n dice beyond any significance. But that's the evil: thinking there's any significance in ANY slice 'n dice. It's the propaganda support for Divide & Conquer. Slice: Gender / Slice: Religion / Slice: Income / Slice: Age / Slice: Race /ad nauseum. We have enough of a huge matrix of perceived divisions to be conquered already. The rest is evolution, physical and socio/politico/econo.