If Petraeus actually does end up changing his mind and running

[redcommander]

How do you see him doing against Obama?

[Reaganfan]

Petraeus: 395
Obama: 143

[Conservative frontier]

Petraeus: 395
Obama: 143

This with Maine going R.

[The Age Wave]

[RosettaStoned]

Petraeus: 395
Obama: 143

Something like that.

[redcommander]

Would he possibly swing Vermont under 60%?

[pbrower2a]

Three words:

Two

Thousand

Sixteen

Explanation: the pattern of history has been that the general (Grant, Eisenhower) who wins a gigantic landslide for a President in wartime (Lincoln, FDR) wins a landslide election as President four to eight years later if he so chooses.

[redcommander]

Three words:

Two

Thousand

Sixteen

Explanation: the pattern of history has been that the general (Grant, Eisenhower) who wins a gigantic landslide for a President in wartime (Lincoln, FDR) wins a landslide election as President four to eight years later if he so chooses.

There is that possibility as well, but he might find an opening for a run if foreign policy overshadows the economy by 2012.

[Bull Moose Base]

..he'd have 90% favorables and be deemed qualified to be Commander-in-Chief by 90% of the country.    He'd also lose the election.

[California8429]

Would he possibly swing Vermont under 60%?

yes, considering he seems more social liberterian/liberal

[BlueSwan]

Doesn't history teach us that there's a huge difference between being a well-liked general and a well-liked political candidate? I see little reason to believe that he would beat Obama on current merits, but I could be wrong.

[justW353]

2016 would be his chance, as in 2012 he'd be running against his boss.

I agree.

Ike and Petraeus don't really compare.

Truman was (in 1952) almost universally unpopular.  Obama isn't.  Assuming an approval from 55% to 65% by 2012, Obama wins.

Petraeus may have 90% approval ratings, but that means nothing.  He has 90% approval as a General; no one from Hawaii is going to support him over Obama.  No one even knows his positions.

[Free Palestine]

What the hell are his positions?  All I've heard is that he's a General.  Not much else.

[Bo]

He wins between 150 and 200 EVs, but still loses.

[Zarn]

2016 would be his chance, as in 2012 he'd be running against his boss.

I agree.

Ike and Petraeus don't really compare.

Truman was (in 1952) almost universally unpopular.  Obama isn't.  Assuming an approval from 55% to 65% by 2012, Obama wins.

Petraeus may have 90% approval ratings, but that means nothing.  He has 90% approval as a General; no one from Hawaii is going to support him over Obama.  No one even knows his positions.

That's a big assumption.

[justW353]

2016 would be his chance, as in 2012 he'd be running against his boss.

I agree.

Ike and Petraeus don't really compare.

Truman was (in 1952) almost universally unpopular.  Obama isn't.  Assuming an approval from 55% to 65% by 2012, Obama wins.

Petraeus may have 90% approval ratings, but that means nothing.  He has 90% approval as a General; no one from Hawaii is going to support him over Obama.  No one even knows his positions.

That's a big assumption.

I wouldn't say so.  The economy is improving, and will continue to improve.  By 2012, public opinion will have turned over HCR.  Assuming an unemployment rate ~7%, Obama will win against anyone.

[Bull Moose Base]

2016 would be his chance, as in 2012 he'd be running against his boss.

I agree.

Ike and Petraeus don't really compare.

Truman was (in 1952) almost universally unpopular.  Obama isn't.  Assuming an approval from 55% to 65% by 2012, Obama wins.

Petraeus may have 90% approval ratings, but that means nothing.  He has 90% approval as a General; no one from Hawaii is going to support him over Obama.  No one even knows his positions.

That's a big assumption.

As is the idea that a guy who has repeatedly insisted he'll never run for public office would, a few months later, abandon his responsibilities in the middle of a ing war to run a political campaign against a boss he has never given one shred of evidence he has any quarrel with whatsoever.

[Mechaman]

2016 would be his chance, as in 2012 he'd be running against his boss.

I agree.

Ike and Petraeus don't really compare.

Truman was (in 1952) almost universally unpopular.  Obama isn't.  Assuming an approval from 55% to 65% by 2012, Obama wins.

Petraeus may have 90% approval ratings, but that means nothing.  He has 90% approval as a General; no one from Hawaii is going to support him over Obama.  No one even knows his positions.

That's a big assumption.

As is the idea that a guy who has repeatedly insisted he'll never run for public office would, a few months later, abandon his responsibilities in the middle of a ing war to run a political campaign against a boss he has never given one shred of evidence he has any quarrel with whatsoever.

Biggest point so far.
A run by Petraus would seem illogical in 2012.

[Zarn]

2016 would be his chance, as in 2012 he'd be running against his boss.

I agree.

Ike and Petraeus don't really compare.

Truman was (in 1952) almost universally unpopular.  Obama isn't.  Assuming an approval from 55% to 65% by 2012, Obama wins.

Petraeus may have 90% approval ratings, but that means nothing.  He has 90% approval as a General; no one from Hawaii is going to support him over Obama.  No one even knows his positions.

That's a big assumption.

As is the idea that a guy who has repeatedly insisted he'll never run for public office would, a few months later, abandon his responsibilities in the middle of a ing war to run a political campaign against a boss he has never given one shred of evidence he has any quarrel with whatsoever.

Right, but that is the given of the scenario. I was going with the given.

2016 would be his chance, as in 2012 he'd be running against his boss.

I agree.

Ike and Petraeus don't really compare.

Truman was (in 1952) almost universally unpopular.  Obama isn't.  Assuming an approval from 55% to 65% by 2012, Obama wins.

Petraeus may have 90% approval ratings, but that means nothing.  He has 90% approval as a General; no one from Hawaii is going to support him over Obama.  No one even knows his positions.

That's a big assumption.

I wouldn't say so.  The economy is improving, and will continue to improve.  By 2012, public opinion will have turned over HCR.  Assuming an unemployment rate ~7%, Obama will win against anyone.

And then the unicorns came and praised Obama for his love of nature...

[Mjh]

Is it even certain that Petraeus is a Republican?

[King]

Is it even certain that Petraeus is a Republican?

It's believed that he has pubic hair on his fully-dropped, king-sized testicles, yes.

[justW353]

2016 would be his chance, as in 2012 he'd be running against his boss.

I agree.

Ike and Petraeus don't really compare.

Truman was (in 1952) almost universally unpopular.  Obama isn't.  Assuming an approval from 55% to 65% by 2012, Obama wins.

Petraeus may have 90% approval ratings, but that means nothing.  He has 90% approval as a General; no one from Hawaii is going to support him over Obama.  No one even knows his positions.

That's a big assumption.

As is the idea that a guy who has repeatedly insisted he'll never run for public office would, a few months later, abandon his responsibilities in the middle of a ing war to run a political campaign against a boss he has never given one shred of evidence he has any quarrel with whatsoever.

Right, but that is the given of the scenario. I was going with the given.

2016 would be his chance, as in 2012 he'd be running against his boss.

I agree.

Ike and Petraeus don't really compare.

Truman was (in 1952) almost universally unpopular.  Obama isn't.  Assuming an approval from 55% to 65% by 2012, Obama wins.

Petraeus may have 90% approval ratings, but that means nothing.  He has 90% approval as a General; no one from Hawaii is going to support him over Obama.  No one even knows his positions.

That's a big assumption.

I wouldn't say so.  The economy is improving, and will continue to improve.  By 2012, public opinion will have turned over HCR.  Assuming an unemployment rate ~7%, Obama will win against anyone.

And then the unicorns came and praised Obama for his love of nature...

You can't argue with a hack. 

Look, public opinion is already turning.  The benefits of HCR will start to kick in by 2012.  The economy is already improving.

[Eraserhead]

Those maps are hilarious. He'd probably crash and burn like most General candidates.

[Joe Republic]

Those maps are hilarious. He'd probably crash and burn like most General candidates.

[justW353]

Those maps are hilarious. He'd probably crash and burn like most General candidates.

Ike is way different than any other General.  Ike also wasn't running against an incumbent.

George Marshall, Colin Powell, Ulysses S. Grant, George Washington, and Dwight Eisenhower are the only Generals I think could have been elected President.