Gandalf said it all. It's a fool's hope the one they had. It relied on the fact that sauron
a) did not think it possible that anyone could be so braindamaged as to even want to destroy the ring.
b) did not know enough (if anything at all) in those hobbitses. Had it crossed his mind that "the halfling" could have the nerve + the simple heart to even get close to mt. Doom without running insane, he'd have just sealed mordor like a clam.
pretty much what gandalf says. S. had ambitions of conquer. he wanted to cover the land in shadows, but he did not want it popultaed by orcs. Had he flexed his muscles a little more, there would have been no hope whatsoever.
O
EDIT: Sephirot and Link are sweating cold. C'mon, 10 more pages and we're there....