1) A "great deal" of Americans claim to be conservative, not Republican. There is an important distinction. The Republican party is merely a vehicle;
2) There aren't enough "rich" people by actual count in the U.S. to get Republicans elected as they were last fall;
3) Many "rich" people are Democrats (see Bill Gates and Warren Buffett);
4) The Republicans have to have some appeal among the independent, middle class in the U.S. or they'd never win control of Congress or the presidency;
5) Of course the "rich" create jobs. Small- and medium-sized businesses are the engine of the American economy. Most people who risk their capital and launch a successful business do become wealthy. When have the chronically poor or lower middle-class ever created jobs? Exactly how do you think wealth is created? Are you that ignorant of basic economics?
If your goal is sticking it to "rich" people and big corporations, you have a point. Then the Democrat party and its welfare-state, class-envy agenda is for you. But you also have to be intellectually honest and admit you don't value individual liberty, free enterprise, and smaller, efficient government. I do value those things. The Democrat party as it is constituted today offers hope for none of these things.
I vote for Republicans because the alternative is to vote for people whose world view, value for human life, respect for private property and interpretation of the US Constitution is diametrically opposed to mine.