2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: This country will absolutely NOT elect a self-described socialist. Sanders would be slaughtered. [View all]SheilaT
(23,156 posts)it was obvious to the most casual observer, and pollster, that Barack Obama couldn't possibly win. The general thinking was, Nice kid, great speech at that last convention, but he's brand new to Congress, still quite young, his time will come in four or eight years.
Remember?
Nothing is set in stone this far out.
A few other remembrances of elections past:
In early 2002 it was conventional wisdom that of course Al Gore would run again in '04, only this time he wouldn't have the election stolen from him!
In early 2005 it was commonly assumed that of course John Kerry would run again, and claim his rightful place as President.
Going back a bit further, in 1990, right after the Gulf War, it was so incredibly obvious that President Bush would be re-elected, and probably by a landslide, that no thinking Democrat would even consider running against him.
You might want to mull over those three for a bit and reconsider your claims.
Not to mention, Obama has had the "socialist" epithet thrown at him from the beginning, and somehow he got elected. Twice, if memory serves correctly.