[1] In the 2008 U.S. presidential election, however, virtual incumbency was also determined less formally, either by the policies of the actual candidates or the state of the polls.
Kevin Hassett used the idea in its traditional sense when discussing Ray Fair's model, which ties the incumbent's party to the current state of the economy.
In 2008, however, argued Hassett, The concept was used in a different way on Face the Nation on November 2, 2008 by Senator Lindsey Graham to describe Barack Obama's candidacy.
[4] This argument had been previously made by Dick Morris to suggest the likelihood that undecided voters would overwhelmingly vote for John McCain: John Fund described Obama as the "quasi-incumbent" on CNN Late Edition on November 2, 2008, by which he also meant that the election had become "referendum on Barack Obama".
[6] David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, had previously described Hillary Clinton as the "quasi-incumbent" during the primaries.