Free stuff helped him get re-elected. But I don’t think that played as big a part in the 2008 election. I’m not saying it was entirely discounted, as you did have many people wanting free stuff.
But that number grew from 2008 to present. The free stuff crowd was a much bigger factor in the 2012 race.
I would add that the 2008 financial meltdown appears to have done some sort of lasting psychological damage to the country. People now seem far less trusting of Capitalism and free markets than they were previously. I think the desire for bigger government is sadly real, and is the result of some pent-up desire to see banks and Wall Street punished for 2008.
I think if we had experienced a normal recovery cycle people would have shrugged this off and figured that the markets are self-healing. But because it has dragged on so long (part of deliberate Obama strategy, I’m now thinking) they are beginning to give up on this faith, and are now questioning our entire economic system for the first time since the 1930’s.
Reagan did a very smart thing in that he prosecuted hundreds of bankers in the S&L scandal. It reaffirmed people’s faith in the system. In this case no one has gone to jail for the ‘08 meltdown, and in the minds of many that represents a lack of justice.
True that Obama is the one who did not go after them. But the media has taught the public to always blame Republicans when a businessman gets away with something shady.