Could the Republicans have won in 2008?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

McCain has always been a media oriented candidate and therefore there was no way that McCain could have beaten Obama. Certainly with the economic situation, McCain was out of his depth on the issue, having won the primary in a narrow window where Foreign Policy surged back to the fore (January and Feb 2008) at least as far as the GOP was concerned. Prior to that it had been immigration and then the economy. Rudy pulling out of New Hampshire allowed McCain to rally the indies, and he was further helped by people expecting Obama to win and thus voting in the NH GOP primary instead, helping lead to Clinton's victory there.

I think Romney could have won the election in 2008, because he could have painted Obama as a novice on business and the economy. However, 2012 doesn't exhibit much skill in maintaining a narrative. Likewise, Huckabee could have won running as a complete Washington outsider, provided he didn't get mired down in talk about his extreme positions on some social issues. Which of course, his history doesn't give one confidence either.

It is possible to win Presidential elections in terrible economic situations. 1876, 1908, 1936 come to mind. 1840, 1896, and 1932 get all the attention though.  There are two paths, you have to illustrate you are more competent to fix the economy or you run a complete outsider.