“much like how no GOP nominee was going to in in ‘08”
I know what you’re saying (people were tired of the GOP in 2008), but I don’t think Obama was unbeatable, had he run against a normal Republican. Hillary, on the other hand, back then would have been unstoppable, but certainly not today.
There’s a difference between unbeatable and unwinnable. Obama was clearly beatable, just not by a GOP candidate that year.