“I think Obama will win in a landslide.”
A landslide seems a stretch, but I do worry that Obama will benefit from factors way beyond his control, e.g.,
1) the ailing Kim Jong-Il dies and the new leadership opts to pull a China by allowing capitalism and reuniting with S. Korea;
and/or
2) Israelis take out Iran’s nuclear capability, leading to an overthrow of I’mANutJob and the sudden transformation of Middle East as Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan all slowly but surely emerge as democratic regimes and the Palestinians elect to pull an Egypt and settle their differences with Israel etc.
With health reform and cap n trade sidelined, my guess is that the economy might turn around much more rapidly in the face of a far less contentious foreign policy landscape. Obama wouldn’t deserve the credit, but voters by 2012 might feel far less angry with unemployment finally trending downward and their 401(k)’s replenished.
I don’t know about the first, but the second seems a distinct possibility. He’d better not benefit from it. Plus, with an energized Republican Congress coming in in Nov., he might endear himself to the voting public by proxy. I hope it doesn’t happen.
Did Carter get a Rep. congress in ‘78?