[sam_paine]

No. If he was right wing, he would have won.

Like Rick Santorum? Like George Allen? Like Alan Keyes who gave us Obama in the first place? Rush says, "Conservatism wins every time." Not true. Sometimes idiots vote like teenagers.

Ronald Reagan could not have won in 2008 following the media beatdown and Bush and the financial meltdown panic.

[wolfpat]

I'm not sure about the others you list, but IIRC, Keyes was a late entry into that election just to provide some kind of a choice for the voters. There was NO WAY any late coming Republican was going to beat ANY democRAT in that district. So you can't blame Keyes for Obama.