By: Jeffrey Klein, Political Buzz Examiner
Examiner.com

During the Presidential campaign leading up to the November 2008 elections, after Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) had clinched the Democrat party nomination, he rode an unbelievable wave of popularity across the nation, where some political rallies looked and sounded more like rock concerts.

Remember … “Barack the vote?”

Buoyed by a complicit mainstream media machine smitten with him, Sen. Obama’s speeches were filled with teleprompter-guided criticisms and prognostications–delivered with a Jon Stewart comedic sarcasm, which made him seem like a combination of Moses, Plato and Nostradamus.

President Bush had deeply declined in the polls, as public dismay with the seemingly endless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan grew, inflamed by the daily press skewerings of the Bush administration.

Too many Americans were now very open to a breath of fresh air–and John McCain just wasn’t giving it to them.

So, feeling his oats, I’m certain, Sen. Obama painted a word picture of an almost impossible dream–returning America to a blissful, elegant state, in harmony with fellow Earthlings everywhere…and the Universe, in general. This of course included ending both wars, closing Gitmo, bringing free healthcare to all, and neutralizing the Trojan Horse of destruction called the “Sub-Prime Mortgage” financial crisis that was blooming across the nation and the world.

He even staked his future on it, by declaring he would be a one-term president if he was unable to solve the financial crisis, and the unemployment rate rose above 8 percent–and he was elected President of the United States in a 53 to 46 percent contest, compelling the new First Lady of the land, Michelle Obama to trumpet … “This is the first time I have been truly proud of my country!”

Shortly after that gaffe heard ’round the world, nearly every decision and action that President Barack Hussein Obama took proved to be an abject failure.

Now the time is near for the nation to collect on Barack Obama’s wager.

And, even though Democrats can always count on the electoral votes from the Northeast and West Coast states, politicians on both sides of the aisle understand that it is the Independent “swing state” voters who decide the outcome of our elections–just as they did in the November 2010 trouncing of Democrats all over the country, up and down the political ladder.

And now, it appears that Barack Obama’s political future is headed down the same track.

In the dozen swing states where voters will decide the 2012 presidential election, a new Gallup/USA Today poll shows President Obama losing to the current Republican frontrunners by significant margins.

Obama trailed Mitt Romney by 5 points, 43 percent to 48 percent and trailed Newt Gingrich by 3 points, 45 percent to 48 percent, in the survey of these 12 battleground states, according to Chris Stirewalt’s FOXNews article from Tuesday.

To break it down, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania all skewed heavily Republican statewide in the November 2010 election cycle; plus, polls and electoral trends suggest the president is unlikely to prevail in Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire and North Carolina.

This leaves Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio and Virginia as the swingingest of swing states and Obama trailing in electoral votes 245 to 242 with 51 up for grabs.

Since 2008, swing state voters have become 9 percent less Democratic. When Obama won the swing states by 8 points, Democrats boasted an 11-point party identification edge.

Now it’s down to just 2-points…

Instead of receiving “Hope and Change” as promised, people of all political persuasions have been sharing “misery and despair,” piling up emotional and financial baggage in every state of the union, which is causing the ‘Obama Train’ to derail.

Copyright (c) 2011 by Jeffrey Klein