Wealth and the 2016 Presidential Candidates and Hopefuls

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I personally believe the following article is an attempt by the Boston Globe to help take some of the focus off Hillary as being, Out of Touch and inability to relate to the Common folk ... you get the idea. So what they've done here is focus on the wealth of ALL the potential candidates instead. Saying all that, it's still an interesting article none the less:

Jeb Bush is a scion of a wealthy family that has its own oceanside compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. Hillary Rodham Clinton gobbled up $200,000 speaking fees over the past year and then announced she was running to become the president for “everyday Americans.”

Ted Cruz is worth $3.2 million and Rand Paul is worth $1.3 million. Businesswoman Carly Fiorina, one of the wealthiest potential White House candidates, is worth an estimated $71 million.

Welcome to the campaign for the hearts and minds of the middle class.

In an election season expected to be dominated by appeals to blue-collar Americans, the ability of candidates to credibly connect with average voters will be a major challenge. Wealth defines the lives and backgrounds of most of the presidential hopefuls, potentially clouding their ability to project empathy for the plights of those struggling with rent payments, college loans, or child care.

“That’s where folks like Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton have had difficulties — and will continue to have difficulties,” said Republican political consultant Kevin Madden, a former Romney adviser. “When you’re Hillary Clinton and you’re in a bubble and you’ve basically had an entourage of staffers circling you for the better part of 30 years — and your campaign has operated as if there’s a velvet rope around you — that’s hard.”

Recent surveys show that Americans feel left behind by the economic recovery. Growing majorities of voters — in both parties — say the gap between rich and poor has exploded.

Pocketbook anxiety is rampant. About 55 percent of Americans said they are falling behind economically, according to a Pew Research survey released in January. Only 6 percent said their income is rising faster than their cost of living

The median household net worth in the United States is $81,200, according to a report released last year by the Federal Reserve.

The median net worth of the burgeoning field of potential presidential candidates is about $1.5 million, according to a Globe review of previously filed federal and state financial disclosure statements of 18 hopefuls who have declared or are eyeing the race.

Read the rest of the story HERE.

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