User blog comment:1dra7/Republican or Democrat?/@comment-1581765-20121019014531/@comment-1874924-20121019022046

Part of the reason why the expectations for Obama were so high is that he made far too many promises during the campaign. Granted, some of that comes with the territory. Candidates are obliged to take positions on many issues, but once in office they spend most of their time on a few issues that they care deeply about. Nevertheless, Obama made promises that he really had no business making, so to that extent he set himself up to fail.

Regarding the economy: most people seriously overestimate the influence that a President--any President--has on the economy, so the President tends to get too much credit when times are good and too much blame when times are tough. Indeed, the fact that Romney is such a weak candidate is the only reason why this election will even be close. As one analyst noted, "With the economy in the shape it's in, Obama should be trailing by 15 points."