It seems like for as long as Obama has been on the national stage, people have underestimated him, only to outfox them in the end.
1) "Obama will never win the Democratic nomination. The Clintons are just too powerful."
2) "Obama can't win the presidency. McCain is an American hero and plus the Bradley effect!!!!"
3) (After Scott Brown is elected) "Well healthcare is dead. No way Obama can get it passed now."
4) "Obama is so weak on defense. No way will he get anything done foreign policy wise."
*Cue Bin Laden*
5) "No way the Supreme Court will uphold Obamacare"
5) "Obama can't win reelection. He's vulnerable."
so, is there a chance Obama could fool us all and win reelection fairly easily?
1. I guess that's correct.
2. I don't recall this. McCain was always the underdog, aside from the moment he picked Palin as his VP, where he overtook Obama by about 2 points.
True. Many people are now forgetting Obama was consistently leading over McCain even before economic collapse.
I have to strongly disagree with this one. Of the 4 major campaigns of his life the only one in which Obama wasn't a heavy favorite was vs Hillary. Keyes was a joke. McCain was an old man hampered by the disaster which was Sarah Palin and forced to carry the baggage of the Bush administration. Romney is a Republican John Kerry.
So yeah ... Obama is an underdog the same way that New England Patriots are underdogs.
2008 primaries were a perfect example of good, far-looking strategy and perfect timing.
Hillary basically took it for granted, expecting she'll be the nominee after few initial states. Thus, she failed to built a proper infrastructure in most of the states, while Obama team already handled it. Hillary became an underdog the moment she lost in Iowa, but managed to hold on until very last state.
There is not going to be a landslide win for either candidate.
I fully agree.
