Someone pointed this out to me in email the other day. I believe it was either Neil Stevens or Dan McLaughlin. The point has been made by others as well.

Barack Obama and his campaign have overplayed their hand in one crucial aspect. They spent years getting their friends in the media to believe and sell them as the most experienced campaign team in the world. Look at the 2008 Primary. The Obama campaign would have you believe they beat Paul Begala and James Carville of Team Clinton. They may have beaten Team Hillary Clinton, but they did not beat Begala-Carville. You’d never know that from all the hype.

The reality is actually far different.

In 2000, Barack Obama tried to pick off Rep. Bobby Rush. He went down in flames in that Democratic Primary.

In 2004, Barack Obama beat Jack Ryan, but only did so after Ryan dropped out. Associates close to Obama were able to dribble out the sordid details of Ryan’s divorce and perversions. Alan Keyes stepped in to fully make a joke of the Illinois Republican Party.

In 2008, Barack Obama ran against John McCain, a man who suspended his campaign right at the height of election season to do something no one seemed to understand who seemed to covet the Republican nomination for vindication much more than he coveted actually winning the White House. The seat Obama had won in 2006 flipped back to Republican hands.

Between his election and now, Barack Obama had the House and Senate, did nothing to improve the economy, caved in to Republican demands, grandstanded at the Olympics meeting only to see Chicago lose out, campaigned for Democrats in Virgina, Massachusetts, New Jersey and elsewhere only to have them lose, and has routinely overplayed his hand in office.

That is, in fact, Barack Obama’s true pattern behind the hype and myth. He overplays his hand and has his spin machine convince the Washingto Press Corps that it was all intentional and his campaign team are geniuses.

The only thing is — they aren’t.

Consider Jim Messina, the Obama campaign manager. He released a video to supporters that reeks of a quiet desperation for calm in the face of panic. He says, in part,

“We’re actually ahead of where we were at this point last time around. Remember summer of 2008? Folks don’t remember it this way, but in May and June 2008, a lot of polls were saying we would never pull it off. In fact, eight different national polls had us anywhere from neck-and-neck to down a few points.”

Jim Geraghty notes that nothing could be further from the truth. The Obama campaign, by June of 2008, was ahead in every released poll.

Campaigns and people are fickle. No doubt at some point the Romney campaign will have a worse week than Barack Obama. But for everyone wondering right now how such a well polished and brilliant campaign team could have such a bad series of consecutive weeks the answer is simple. They never were the brilliant, well polished campaign team they’ve claimed to be.