Politics | political elite DC Hotshots More Optimistic Than Public More believe country is on the right track than wrong By Kevin Spak Posted Jul 19, 2010 1:09 PM CDT Copied This Tuesday, July 3, 2007 picture shows the skyline of Washington, D.C., including the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and the US Capitol. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds) Wealthy Washingtonians are out of sync with the rest of the country on a host of issues, according to a new poll. Politico surveyed 227 “Washington elites”—meaning DC residents who make at least $75,000 a year, and work in politics in some form—and found a group much more optimistic than the rest of the country. More of the elites said the country was on the right track (49%) than on the wrong one (45%); in a national poll, 61% went with “wrong track.” The elites also like President Obama a lot more, and Sarah Palin a lot less, than the rest of the country does, and they view the economy in a slightly rosier light. Different issues were important to the two samples as well. Only 36% of the elite see immigration as a “very important” issue, for example, compared to 53% of the public. For “family values,” the break was even more stark—23% to 62%. Read These Next A space capsule carrying ashes of 160 people crashed in the ocean. A lesson in minding your own business ... at 30,000 feet. The death toll in the Texas floods has risen to 27, including 9 kids. Desperate search for missing campers continues in Texas. Report an error