I think that there was an expectation that jobs growth would be faster and that the economy would bounce back more thoroughly, but with the GFC and two wars on a credit card, there was very little resilience in the US economy when Obama came in.

And then, the Republican campaign has been so utterly insane that it makes Tony Abbott look like a truth-telling sensitive new age guy: there has been a line spun that Obama is shorthand for socialism and big government, which is not only untrue in itself, but is a crazy thing to criticise, as the countries that are exactly what the Republicans hold up as ooga booga scary are Norway, Sweden and Australia, all of which have life expectancies and quality of life ratings that leave the US in the dirt.

If Romney wins, I am going to spend four years looking at cat gifs. There must be enough on the internet to get me through!