You must not have watched the debates between him and McCain in 2008.
There were 3 debates. In the first debate, McCain held his own. Neither candidate gave out too much information.
After the second debate, I looked at my wife and said (speaking of Obama), "he will be the next president."
The reason I said that was the fact that Obama articulated his positions. I diagreed with every one of them...however...he was able to articulate them. The best McCain could do was say, "we know what the problems are...we know how to fix them." Then I waited for him to articulate a policy to address an issue...any issue...and there was nothing.
And I take issue with your statement that all Obama had was "hope and change." If one listened to what he said, he made it very clear what type of president he would be, and what he wanted to do. If taken in that light...he has been very successful.
When I hear people bemoan his pesidency, and comment that they did not know he was going to be this bad...I always reply "were'nt you listening?"
