Reaching Out

This may fall under the radar, but Barack Obama's decision to be featured on the cover of People Magazine really stands out for me.

Being on the front cover of one of the most-read magazines in the land is good business practice for a politician, but just who reads the magazine? Check out People's demographic:

Female	87%
Median Age	38*
Median HHI	$75K
HHI $100K+	29%
Any College	79%
Employed Full Time	56%
Presence of Children	48%

While there is no racial background, you can bet the house that the magazine's audience is super-majority white women.

According to CNN's exit polling, Obama won white women, who made up 35% of the electorate, by a 53-46 margin, but lost whites aged 30-44 years old by 57-41 (and those aged 45-64 years old by 56-42). Obama also won married women with children (15% of voters), by a slimmer 51-47. Given that he won black won by 96-3, he has some work to do with skeptical white women.

But as this magazine cover demonstrates, it's never too early to start thinking about improving his standing with middle-aged (predominantly white women), as well as 2012.