The New Identity Politics
Many blacks voted for Obama because he looks like them.
Many liberal (or if you prefer, progressive) whites voted for Obama because he doesn’t look like them.
Intellectuals are above that sort of crass, superficial identity politics. They voted for Obama because he talks like them. As Yale law professor Dan Kahan put it, as quoted in the Washington Post this morning,
“You know how Obama always said, ‘This is our moment; this is our time?’” Kahan said. “Well, academics and smart people think, ‘Hey, when he says this is our time, he’s talking about us.’”