Elections have consequences. When conservatives swept into power in the 1994 elections, they came in with a very clear set of principles. In very short order, enough of them were seduced by the spoils of power and after the 2000 presidential election (especially after 9/11), domestic spending increased beyond what the Democrats had previously done. For 6 years, the GOP squelched its dwindling conservate core and replaced conservative principles with a culture of corruption.
2008 was not just about a public eager to elect the first black president. It was just the result of the public's rejection of a GOP that said one thing and increasingly did another.
I don't blame Obama for being Obama. I do blame Republicans for not being conservative.