Man, you guys are either reading my old posts, or reading my mind tonight. I said the exact thing two years ago. The Dems are practically stuck with this moron, because there's no way to extract him from the race without causing a rebellion of black Democrats against the rest of the party.
Even though many blacks are souring on him now, if the party were to move him out of the way for any stated reason (including a catastrophic illness), blacks would immediately suspect foul dealings behind the scenes. You'd never be able to convince them otherwise, either. If they lose the black vote, they're sunk forever.
Which brings us full circle. The Dems are stuck with him, no matter how much damage he causes to their party. I'll bet that most of the old bulls have already conceded that they're about to enter a rebuilding phase. Time to go quiet and play nice with the opposition until they can elevate the farm team to the majors.
Even if Obama was to win, I believe the mind-set of the country will be Conservative enough that he will have to deal with a Republican Senate and House and he will be hamstrung. He will have an impotent second term.