No if the economy had not of collapsed we would not have Obama now. McCain led between 3 and 5 points depending on the poll for weeks until the economy collapsed. He could have been Reagan and Goldwater combined and he still would have lost.
It’s easy to talk of ‘what might have been’.
What actually happened, though, is reality.
McCain offered only an pale imitation of Obama’s platform... and thought that would get him elected. Not ever realizing that for those that believe in self-reliance/personal responsibility, the choice between total government dependance and just a little bit less than total government dependance is a false choice. So they didn’t vote.
Which allowed for the demographics to be skewed.
Had he *ACTUALLY* offered a difference, more would have turned out to vote. Which would have offered him the possibility of victory.