As just one example of a long-term trend in U.S. politics, Kamala Harris's acceptance speech for the Democratic presidential nomination on Aug. 22, 2024 mentioned "middle class" (or "middle-class") nine times. She said "lower class", "poor", or "poverty" (or variants) exactly zero. Civic religion and the (unfair) stigma of poverty don't typically go together well, especially in terms of presidential aspirants seeking to ward off that stigma getting stuck on them or on their sympathies. Titans of industry, we all!

Prepared by Douglas Lucas in September 2024 as a footnote, ultimately unused, for his Sept. 22, 2024 article at the Daily Dot: "Election 2024: The future of TikTok and tech policy under Trump versus Harris."