Obama the Underperformer?

Politico.com has an interesting article on the "surprising" underperformance of Barack Obama. With a historically unpopular president about to leave office, and all the polls indicating that the Democrats will win a huge majority in the Senate and House of Representatives, Barack Obama at best is only poling 3-4% above John McCain. You would think that with the Democratic Party apparently enjoying a level of popularity not seen since the 1970s, Barack Obama should have a commanding or at least a comfortable lead over McCain. It is still early, but it is obvious to everyone that McCain is doing better than expected, and Obama is underperforming. Maybe the Conventions will shake things up a bit.