It's all in the spin. Remember, George Bush (Senior) was portrayed as 'elite' because of his boat and their compound in Kennebunkport ME. Reagan got away with the 'folksy' image because he'd get in blue jeans, ride horses and chop wood on his ranch. Back then, Carter had the "blue collar" image as a peanut farmer from Georgia (as opposed to the fact that he was also a nuclear engineer).

Pick a few data points - you can probably make anyone look like anything.