This American Moment — The Surprises

On Tuesday night, Obama reached out to the other half. For those who did not vote for him, he said, “I will be your president, too.”

What an idea — simple and obvious. But like so much American common sense, it’s been missing for too long.

clipped from egan.blogs.nytimes.com This American Moment — The Surprises Guess who won Joe the Plumber’s vote. Not Joe the symbol and unlicensed tax-dodger coming soon to a garage sale near you, but real people who make about $42,000 a year, the median income for plumbers and pipefitters. Barack Obama carried hard-working Americans of that income stripe by 10 points, according to exit polls. And the only voters who were told directly that their taxes would go up under a new Democratic president? Obama took the rich as well, winning by six points that small sliver of the electorate that makes more than $200,000 year. Soak ’em. One of the better lines in Obama’s election night speech was a slap to the rejectionist politics of Bush. Rove always insisted a president only needed 50 percent plus one to win. And Bush governed that way, permanently angering half the population. On Tuesday night, Obama reached out to the other half. For those who did not vote for him, he said, “I will be your president, too.” What an idea — simple