Ah-hah! Good point, Richard. Yes, one can always turn a large number of voters against a candidate by giving them the idea that he grew up with privileges and luxuries they didn't have. That breeds resentment.

This is kind of silly, though, because how many modern politicians do NOT come from the ranks of the wealthy?

In the USA the vital thing is simply to be seen as a regular guy. You mustn't look or sound too upper class. This calls for professional actors...like Ronald Reagan, for example.

The fact is, they are virtually all rich guys with fancy lawyers to advise them. Most of them ARE lawyers.