Assuming what you say about the wide-spread influence of the Patriot Act to be true, its affects are invisible to almost everybody so I doubt it would be high on the priority list of the electorate.
Are we going to say that the people who voted for O were blind about all manner of issues, but somehow they could see the Patriot Act clearly for what you say it is. It doesn’t hit you in the face like the 40% loss in retirement savings.
It’s the difference between chronic and acute. Bush has been pummeled every day of his second term, on any number of subjects, including the Patriot Act, and this starts the slow burn in the public mind.
But then, as you pointed out, when the major economic stuff hits home, where there is a lot of acute pain, then you have the nails in the coffin.