It was only after the economic collapse that Obama's white male support climbed above the 38 percent ceiling. It was also at that point that Obama first sustained a clear majority among all registered voters, according to the Gallup tracking poll.
Kuhn's comparison of the governing styles of Obama and FDR is particularly interesting. Hint - he finds them quite different. I suspect Obama's style is more like that of Woodrow Wilson - professorial.
BTW, I spent 30+ years working with professors and, trust me, you don't want a professor as a president, me included. We make reasonable policy wonks, but poor executives.