There is an anecdote (possibly apocryphal) from the the 1992 election campaign involving then president George H. W. Bush and a grocery store scanner. It painted him as elitist and out of touch with the regular people. There is evidence to suggest it may have cost him the election.

Contrast that with the 2008 election. By any measure Barack Obama was a "regular" person. Only the previous year had he finally paid off his student loans. He was raised by a single parent and grandparents that worked regular jobs. He married a woman raised in a middle-class family. By contrast, McCain had 7 houses (or was it nine?), had been in DC forever, married a rich heiress and - in spite of all attempts to paint him as looking out for the Regular Joes (especially of the plumbing variety) - was perceived by the electorate as being out of touch. Despite attempts to paint Obama as "elitist", again the public saw through the ruse.

It was (and still is) Obama's ability to talk directly to the American people on our level that enables him to break down the walls that normally exist between leaders and the rest. He doesn't talk down to us. He doesn't try to scare us, nor pacify us, nor dazzle us with bullshit. Anyone watching the press conference last night could see that he was answering reporters questions, but he was talking to us. He was trying to explain things in regular terms, trusting us to understand without the need for some political analyst trying to explain what he really means.

There were attempts at "gotcha" questions which Obama simply sidestepped, and then delivered the facts. When pressed, he was curt and shot down the bait in a way that burned the asses of those trying to outsmart the smartest man we've had in the office in a while.

This has really put his critics and opponents in a tough place. The elitist thing isn't working, so why not go in the opposite direction? And since Obama is so popular, why not go after his wife Michelle? It's happened twice, in the last day or so - can it be a coincidence?

Burt Prelutsky of TownHall.com had this to say about her:

Oh, I get it - it's a joke, right? Ha Ha... :rolleyes2:

But leave it to a Laura Ingraham fill-in (Tammy Bruce.... who?) to lower the bar even further:

Sorry, you're wrong - we've got trash on the radio.

Women respect and admire Michelle Obama, because she worked for what she got, and didn't forget how to be a woman and mother while doing it. She exudes both empathy and strength. She can relate to how the rest of us live and try to get by. She also has the Common Touch. Just like the attacks on Obama, this too will backfire.

It must be frustrating for the Republicans, a party that caters to the elite, the moneyed, and the powerful to have to go up against a president that looks out for the rest of us, that came from the same circumstances as the rest of us, that understands the rest of us. Has it really been that long since we've had a president like that?

Who would've thought that the Common Touch would be so... uncommon?