Riding on the votes of a rising American electorate—composed of African-Americans, Latinos, youth and blue-collar workers—Obama won a larger Electoral College victory than many expected. On WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show, Nation editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel says this coalition of voters “saw a different vision of America.” Their record turnout at the polls gave the president a mandate to champion.

—Steven Hsieh

For more on the "rising American electorate," read the lead editorial in the latest issue of The Nation.