If you poll President Obama against a generic Republican, Obama trails 42.6% to 40.7%. So that means President Obama would trail any Republican opponent, right? That’s how the generic matchups are regularly treated by the political press.
But as Nate Silver shows at FiveThirtyEight.com, put Obama up against any actual Republican & he trounces ’em by as much as 14%:


![[UPDATED 1/29/26] Audio: Sen. Tim Kaine Talks to Blue Virginia About His “Five-Point Plan” to Fight Trump’s Orban-Like Assault on US Democracy; Civil Disobedience a la MLK Jr.; Trump’s Bogus “Energy Emergency”; the Crucial Importance of the 2025 VA Elections; etc.](https://bluevirginia.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/kaineinterview2-238x178.jpg)








