On one of the networks I remember the shocked commentator exclaiming that he didn’t even KNOW anyone who had voted for Reagan. I always wondered if the irony escaped him?
"On one of the networks I remember the shocked commentator exclaiming that he didn’t even KNOW anyone who had voted for Reagan."
There is also the anecdote about the reaction in the New York Times editorial room. When the exit polls closed and the networks were predicting Reagan's win, the NYT editors all said the same thing: "I don't know anyone who voted for him." In the meantime, the poor stiffs in the mail room, shipping and receiving, and the clerks were all quietly celebrating that they voted contrary to what their bosses urged on the editorial page.
Why? Because Reagan tapped into their innate patriotism (which it's hard to lose if you didn't attend Harvard) and their common sense that Government is not benevolent but needs to be restrained.