One of the standard assumptions built into a lot of campaign reporting is that most people just aren't that interested in politics. I think this is in part due to the fetishization of the undecided voter which basically allows them to ignore all of those nasty partisans who actually care about politics enough to understand the differences between the candidates.
Not everyone who is reasonably interested politics is a political junkie, and nor is there any reason for them to be. But I think Obama's proven that plenty of people do actually have some interest in it.
