Isn't it possible that Obama won simply because he was the better candidate? In 2004 comments similar to those in this discussion were being made about the Democrats. Things like: the Democrats don't stand for anything, they're elitists, they're anti-religion. To the extent that those criticisms were true then, chances are they're still true now. But all it really took for the Democrats to win was to nominate a candidate that transcended it all. There's no reason the Republicans can't work the same magic four or eight years from now. To be fair, Obama was helped by the fact that the public blamed the Republicans for the economy. But the Republicans did manage to nominate the only candidate with any shot at winning the election. Obama had to show that he was the better man for the job. And he did.