There was another time when a leading Democratic candidate, in an eerie parallel to Barack Obama, was recognized as a liberal by his supporters, riding a wave of youth support, had a string of primary wins and had polls showing that he beat his potential November opponent in the polls. (link)
Poll Shows Dukakis Leads Bush; Many Reagan Backers Shift Sides
By E. J. DIONNE JR.
Published: May 17, 1988
Michael S. Dukakis is capitalizing on deep public doubts about Vice President Bush and the Reagan Administration's handling of key issues and has emerged as the early favorite for the Presidential election in November, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.
In this poll from May of 1988, Dukakis led Bush among key demographics, including getting a lot of Reagan's voters. His main weakness at the time was his inexperience:
advantages over Mr. Bush among women, union members, Roman Catholics and blacks.
he scored well even in groups where President Reagan continues to be popular - notably among voters under 30 years old.
he has won a a string of primaries since March. In the latest survey, Mr. Dukakis led his only remaining opponent, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, by a margin of better than 3 to 1 among Democratic primary voters. The survey did contain some hopeful signs for Mr. Bush and the Republicans.
Many voters, for example, worried that Mr. Dukakis may lack the experience to be President, and the electorate as a whole sees Republicans as safer than the Democrats on foreign policy and defense.
I don't think I have to remind anyone how bad that election turned out for the Democratic Party. Dukakis was painted as weak on National Security and Willie Horton was used as his undoing. If Larry Johnson is right, and he usually is, then Obama has three Willie Hortons in his closet. (link)
And even if he wasn't subject to the Dukakis treatment, I think Obama is not the most progressive candidate. On this, I bow to the eloquence of Eriposte here.