Reply #5: My thoughts...

[blondeatlast]

{1} Do you believe that President Obama may face a difficult contest in the 2012 election?
I think any GE is going to be difficult for any Democrat.

{2} Can you identify any group of states (for example, Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania) that could create difficulties in the context of electoral votes for President Obama?
I'm not certain what the context of this question is, but I think any state where there is institutionalized (but unofficial) disenfranchisement, such as those you mention as well as my own, Arizona, will be huge problems as the RRRepublicans will pull out all the stops to prevent Obama from succeeding. They would for ANY Democratic candidate--but particularly for Obama.

{3} Which republican candidate/ticket do you think would be most difficult for President Obama and VP Biden in 2012?
Romney/Kyl--I definitely think Kyl is being groomed for a spot.


{4} What issues will cause the biggest problems for the Democratic ticket?
Both parties are going to cater to the independent vote, so the economy and most of all, taxes.


{5} Can you think of a third-party candidate/ticket that would cause problems for the Democrats? For the republicans?

For the Democrats, no, there's no viable candidates out there that will even attempt a run. For the republicans--almost any RW candidate, really--they so far have a very, very weak field from which to choose.