If Republican voters didn't confine their information sources to Fox News and Rush to such a large degree, they would have realized the degree to which people were disillusioned with Bush's record and been aware of the quality and organization of Obama and Axelrod's team. They would have seen the election result coming a mile away, the actual result is entirely consistent with the way the general election polling went. The final result, and the transience of the RNC/Palin bounce, were entirely predictable events.
The state by state polling. The polling of Democratic support coalescing after the DNC. The support among Hispanic and Asian American voters. All of these pointed to a significant Obama win.
This is not to say that I didn't have many anxious moments during the general election, not the least of which was wondering whether Sarah Palin actually intended to raise up a lynch mob to actually go string up our candidate, but the results were entirely consistent with the polling patterns etc. and a lot of data pointed towards the outcome and its magnitude.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk3iRYqtpJg#t=3m58sBut because these people shielded themselves from such facts, despite all evidence pointing to a significant Obama win, the result tore apart the very fabric of their reality.
Much easier to indulge in birth certificate fantasies and ACORN conspiracies to explain what happened. As long as these folks can live in the Fox News bubble, they will be unable to see the world, and the nation, as it is now.