B. W. Smith: "It's not just that Ward (Cleaver) is more hip than any of us recall, it's that, were he around today, he'd vote Obama."

Thanks, Brandon.

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Ward Cleaver would Vote Obama, by B. W. Smith (Open Salon).

That's right. You read it here first.

Recently, it occurred to me that, despite my best efforts, I had turned into Ward Cleaver. I wore the suit, had the elegant stay-at-home wife, kid, and heck, I even lived in a ranch house built, you guessed it, in the 1950s.

Ward's only a television character, of course, but he's an iconic figure in American pop culture - a symbol of an era that conservatives want us to believe was a golden era of the nuclear family. It turns out, however, that when you examine his record on Leave it to Beaver (courtesy Wikipedia), Ward's not the guy our collective conscious remembers.

It's not just that Ward is more hip than any of us recall, it's that, were he around today, he'd vote Obama. Sure, he looks like a country-club Republican on the surface and kept up appearances for the neighbors, but consider the lesser-known record:

-He reads the newspaper…everyday.

-He played basketball in school.

-He smokes, but he’s subtle about it.

-He dries the dishes for his wife.

-He drinks brandy but not to excess.

-He only owns one car, and he sometimes leaves it at home on a work day.

-He occasionally works from home.

-His job is mysterious, but it involves a briefcase and predicting the needs of women (he was once spotted working on a women’s marketing survey).

-He has a cool bachelor uncle, Billy, the world traveler.

-He was a philosophy major in college.

-He’s a veteran, attends church, and loves his country, but he’s not smug about it.

Thus, extrapolate Ward 50-some years into the future, and you’ve got a college-educated, middle-class professional, green-leaning, family man, non-wacko, main-stream, Midwest blue-state American…an Obama supporter. Just like you and me.