Perception of reality in many instances is as important as reality itself. “Bush =idiot, Obama=genius” reality was instrumental in bringing Obama to power. But it has limitations. It does not take into account the players outside of this system. And the real world provides schemers and intrigants that can and will eat Obama for breakfast. As Chicago machine had an advantage over less skillful players, its not a match against people that came to power in the jungles of Kremlin, Peking, Tehran, Pyongyang.
Obama is living a book called The Dosadi Experiment.
He's just more brillianter than the rest of us peasants...