Rubio lacks the experience Obama demonstrated is critical, and Huckabee has so dialed up the far right rhetoric since he got his talk show that people like me are far less receptive to him than we were four years ago. After them, all other options are the second tier (at best) ones we saw in the primary.

True, but without Ryan handing him the '04 Senate race, then having the Bush economy to run against in '08, Obama would not be the incumbent president now. The rest mainly results from that. The economy is slowly rebounding, as it must eventually if only because it descends until irresistable to bargain hunters (all Obamas challengers know that, too; Romney is clearly counting on it.) The bully pulpit lets him set the narrative with UN speeches and executive orders on immigration.