re: #49 engineer dog

and yet… and yet… i keep on remembering how we all thought ronald reagan would be the easiest republican to beat at the beginning of 1980…

Trust me. Reagan was brighter, a lot more experienced, and way more level headed than Palin. All these things matter in a presidential contest.

Reagan had been governor of CA. And he didn’t quit.

As to being easy to beat, considering the pass Carter had brought the nation to, a stuffed elephant would have won in 1980. If Obama is running for reelection in an environment of 20% inflation, 10% unemployment, gas rationing, and military humiliation, he’ll lose. It simply won’t matter how bad the Republican candidate is, and the only defense to a truly ridiculous Republican nominee will be for sober Democrats to go vote in the Republican primaries for a sober Republican.

If things are not so dire as all that, and they probably won’t be, Obama will win easily against an exceptionally ridiculous Republican, [e.g. Palin] and he’ll stand a good chance against a lackluster Republican. If there’s better than that available on the R side, he’s yet to attain national prominence.