One other thing I should have mentioned: the financial collapse in the fall of 2008 utterly doomed the Republicans. Incumbent governments do NOT get re-elected when the economy tanks on the last few months of their watch. Not a chance.

The financial collapse killed any slender hopes the Republicans had left of getting McCaine elected. The continuing financial troubles are now the biggest problem Obama has too. Financial downturns and recessions are a nightmare for any government that's in power, and this downturn isn't just a hiccup...it's a world crisis this time. It's a depression, not a recession. If it continues, then it will wreck the Democrats just as surely as it wrecked the Republicans in 2008. Anyone in power will get blamed for it. Doesn't matter which party they are. Most people have very short memories when it comes to financial pain...they blame whoever is in power NOW.