TonyB06, i was going to say the same thing

Obama, the economy and Iraq are getting folks to the polls. those same three AREN'T getting Repubs to the polls or at least to vote for Repubs. w/McCain saying, in effect, that we may stay in Iraq for years to come may very well hurt his campaign. in 2004, people were ready to follow bush and stay the course. as has been shown in previous elections, the populace tends to stick w/the sitting president. detrimental or no, unpopular war or no, folks tend to go w/what they know. Kerry and Dems weren't able to change popular thinking. is it the Dems fault? um...i tend to blame the voters and the non-voters who talk mess. people believed that just as in 2001, bush will lead them through the war mess, just like we were led out of 9/11. plus bush is such the Christian and we need a Christian leader to fight these Muslims, blah, blah, blah. smart thinking would've said bush led us into this mess and he needs to go. instead, folks voted for another 4 years of nonsense. hence, there was no "lay-up", history and misplaced fear kept bush in. i daresay, no party can go up against them.