2) America rolled over and went back to sleep, lulled into complaceny by Democratic claims that they can protect us.
3) Too much White Guilt made too many people into racists, voting FOR a man because of the color of his skin.
4) The press and broadcast media pounded, pounded, pounded every tiny flaw in the War On Terror, and mad America the Bad Guys...again.
You forgot: 5) The Republicans (with a little help from their Democrat friends) fielded another repellent loser candidate like Bob Dole, etc., because it was his turn.
Main street Americans want three things - peace, prosperity and JOBS. GOP supported free trade without balancing its impact on jobs. GOP had full faith that corporate America will replace the loss manufacturing jobs with service and high tech jobs. Surprise, surprise, corporate America excited by the huge profits made in exporting manufacturing jobs overseas and discovering a high quality work force in India and China started to train them on how to do service and high tech jobs. Suddenly the college educated sons and daughters of factory workers found themselves competing with H-1B workers and offshoring of jobs to India and China. The Dems step into the breach and promise to review all the free trade agreements and put a hold on many in the pipe line while the GOP promise to keep the status quo. FINALLY, the GOP pursued a policy of not enforcing nor monitoring Wall Street. The GOP accepted a dangerous economic concept that corporate America will never do anything to hurt themselves. Along came the investment bankers and insurance fund managers, many in their 40’s (X generation) who have the life philosophy of making it big or losing everything approach to finance. For them nothing in life is permanent. Love is not permanent, jobs are not permanent, prosperity is not permanent, thus when it happens do not nourish it for future generations, just help yourself and screw everyone else. Banks and insurance companies leveraged 40 to 1 and the GOP did not even noticed the dangers until it was too late. The bankers and insurance companies got too strong and rich to lobby Congress to bloc any reform. Sure, the CRA and Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac is a Dem invention that ultimate collaspse but it exposed a crack in the already stretched financial/insurance system of leveraging which was nutured under the GOP philosophy of less government oversight and regulation followed by full faith in businessmen. System explodes and the GOP is held responsible. Peace, prosperity and JOBS, the GOP failed in the last two and with it loss of political power in America. Only good news is the system is so bankrupt, that Obama/Dems cannot save the US economy from Depression. Actually no one is going to be able to save us in Washington DC. My only advice is go into survival mode, organize your family and community to deal with deflation followed by hyper inflation and all the social unrest that will come with bands of roaming unemployed and homeless (drugs, crime and riots).
Concur with your list , 50sDad. Republican pork, complacency, White Guilt made people vote for a (weak) man because of the color of his skin, and the press and broadcast media carried and covered for the same guy for the same reason. Reason 5 that I’d add would be President and his people repeatedly refusing to lower themselves enough to even try to defend themselves, their ideas and principles, and their party. Repubs just haven’t been much concerned with the voters’ opinion of them for a few years.