A better country than the pundits thought

"For eight years, we’ve been told by those in power that we are small, bigoted and stupid — easily divided and easily frightened. This was the toxic catechism of Bush-Rove politics. It was the soiled banner picked up by the sad McCain campaign, and it was often abetted by an amen corner in the dominant news media. We heard this slander of America so often that we all started to believe it, liberals most certainly included." -Frank Rich, writing in The New York Times

Rich also observes:
- More whites voted for Barack Obama than any Democratic candidate since Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton included.
- While holding Michigan and Pennsylvania, Obama also swung Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio and Indiana (the last voting Democratic for only the second time since 1936)
- Seventy-eight percent of Jews voted for Obama, despite a smear effort aimed at labeling him soft on terror. Obama also took in 67 percent of the Latino vote.