There is a good reason why The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage calls ‘unprecedented’ a ‘dangerous word that should be avoided.’ There is really nothing new under the sun, except, perhaps, the Internet. So for much of this year, when even some of our smartest pundits suggested it would be unprecedented (or all but) for Barack Obama to win re-election with the job-approval ratings, unemployment figures, and right-track/wrong-track polling numbers with which he’s been saddled, I couldn’t help thinking: There’s a first time for everything.
— Todd Purdum, writing in Vanity Fair.
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