The notion of "real Americans" has been a hot topic since Sarah Palin started using the term every chance she got while campaigning for the presidency (um, sorry, the vice-presidency) in 2008. The Washington Post ran a quiz a couple weeks ago, asking questions that "regular Americans" ought to be able to answer. If you're a "regular American," apparently you're fully conversant in NASCAR, mixed martial arts and the Left Behind book series.

As a stay-at-home dad who lives inside the Beltway, it could be assumed that I wouldn't do well on this test. But I did well enough to be considered a "regular American." Of course, knowing who Chuck Liddell and Tim LaHaye and Jimmie Johnson are doesn't mean I pay much attention to what they do. I just have a decent head for names.

But all this got me wondering what the "average" American might be. Here's Wikipedia's answer (based on data from the 2000 Census):

Overall the average American, age 25 or older, made roughly $32,000 per year, does not have a college degree, has been, is, or will be married as well as divorced at least once during his or her lifetime, lives in his or her own home in a suburban setting, and holds a white-collar office job.

A quick scan of the 2000 data also shows that the population center of the U.S. was in Phelps County, Mo., a place I've driven though a few times. Among the tourist spots in Phelps County are the University of Missouri-Rolla (the state's best engineering school) and that's about it. Phelps County sits about 25 miles southeast of the Lake of the Ozarks or about 40 miles south of the state capitol in Jefferson City. Fort Leonard Wood is right next door. So there's an "average" place in America.

The average age is 36.8. Women make up 51.3 percent of the population, and men make up 48.7 percent. A bit more than 30 percent of the population older than age 15 has never been married. Around 50 percent of the population older than 15 is currently married. The rest are divorced or widowed.

Forty-three percent the population has never attended a single college course. Another 21 percent have taken courses but did not graduate. Only 28 percent have four-year degrees, with another 10 percent scoring graduate sheepskins.

While the Census's methods of noting ethnic backgrounds is almost impossibly complicated, it's safe to say that folks who call themselves "white" make up a majority of the population.

Adding in a bit more research, it's now time to add to (or even tweak) the Wiki definition, our average American is a woman. She has just passed the age threshold for running for president. She's likely to be married, though marginally unlikely to have children. She has a high school diploma and probably took some courses down at the community college.

She and her husband live in a three-bedroom house that was built in the 1970s. She lives in the same state in which she was born (almost 60 percent of Americans can say the same thing). And she will probably die in that same state.

Does this sound like you? Some of it, I'm sure. I'm white, 40, I'm married and I live in a three-bedroom house (if you count a 7x10 space with a closet as a bedroom). Of course, I haven't lived in the state of my birth since before I could walk. I have a college degree. I have two kids. The house I live in was built in 1951 or 1952. Oh, and I'm not a woman.

These exercises are fun, I suppose, but they tend to point out that Americans are a fairly diverse set of people. One does not have to "believe in" diversity in order to see that there are a wide variety of people in our nation. Businesses have long known that catering to the widest variety of people possible helps the bottom line. And I'm not talking about making sure every advertising pitch is aimed at middle-of-the-road exurban white folks.

I'm talking about the ambiguously gay duo that starred in Volkswagen ads more than a decade ago. Or the new set of Corona ads, which spotlights many couples "finding their beach." One of these couples happens to be two guys. Ads featuring people of color (and people of many colors) are ubiquitous. The "average" white folks don't seem to be put off by these ads. So why are politicians of both parties afraid to accept the obvious that America is a great nation precisely because we aren't all the same?

Ever since I could vote, politicians of all parties have catered to a largely-mythical middle class. Middle-class tax cuts, appeals to "middle-class values" and all that. Bleah. We're all in the middle in some ways, and we're all not in the middle in others. How about our leaders talk about what's best for America? America the country. The place where we all live. Stop pandering to this or that group and simply get on with what making America better for all Americans.

Whoever gets elected on Tuesday will be charged with governing this nation. Let's hope those folks actually take the job seriously.

In Kindergarten, Jon Worley was given the choice to learn to write with his left or his right hand. He chose his left, largely because it would make him more unusual.