So this thread is about Obama's unpopularity, yet if he wins, it'll only be because the Republican candidate is _even more_ unpopular? I mean, why waste all this time on elections and tours and straw polls when Americans will be choosing between two unpopular men?

Every poll I've seen has Obama ahead. The election proper hasn't started, but it flies in the face of this hypothesis. If Obama is unpopular for not addressing the deficit, yet is performing better than the candidate of the party who uncompromisingly (imo, dangerously) wants to cut the deficit, then Obama better reflects the popular will, no?

If Obama wins, as polling suggests he will, how can his policies still be unpopular?