I suppose there’s something to be said for wishful thinking....
Don’t forget that Bill CLinton did horribly his first few months in office—one disaster after another—and was widely panned even by the liberal media, but got himself re-elected in 1996 all the same. Obama can follow similar tactics to ensure that no strong opponent materializes in 2012, unless he turns into another Jimmy Carter. He’ll get a lot more slack than Jimmy since he isn’t a white guy from the South.