Where is the greatest concentration of wealth in America today? Manhattan? Malibu? The Hamptons? Palm Beach? No sir, it's the DC Metro region. According to Forbes magazine, 10 out of the 20 wealthiest counties in America are right here in DC Metro: #1 Fairfax Co., VA #2 Loudoun Co., VA #3 Howard Co., MD #8 Montgomery Co, MD #9 Arlington Co., VA #11 Stafford Co., VA #12 Calvert Co., MD #18 Prince William Co., VA #19 Alexandria City, VA #20 Charles Co., MD If you have not yet read this article in the NY Times, I highly, highly recommend it. Political demographics in Virginia are similarly changing. 150 years ago, this state was the capital of the Confederacy. Currently, Virginia has elected two Democratic governors in a row, elected a Democratic Senator, Jim Webb in 2006, and is currently polling as a statistical dead heat in the 2008 Presidential elections. Virginia is also poised to elect its second Democratic US Senator this November, as the most recent Rasmussen poll shows Mark Warner ahead of his Republican opponent by a large 26% margin. The main reason for this shift in demographics is the massive influx of people into Northern Virginia. In 2004, Fairfax County, with a 2006 estimated population of 1,077,000, voted for a Democratic Presidential candidate for the first time since 1964. This year, I expect both Loudoun County, population 268,817, and Prince William County, population 384,644, to narrowly vote Democratic as well. Alexandria (Independent City) and Arlington County are long-time Democratic strongholds. According to the Washington Post, "[VA] State election officials told the [Obama] campaign Friday that 49,000 new voters signed up in August, a sharp increase from the 36,500 who signed up in July and the 28,000 who registered in June...There is no way of knowing how many of the newly registered will vote for Obama, especially since Virginia does not record voters by party affiliation. But the campaign is encouraged by the demographic profile of the new voters -- about 40 percent of those who registered in August are aged 25 or under."
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