In spite of all their flaws, I revere Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Their judgement and reasoning were much sounder than either Bush2 or Trump. Plus, they were intelligent. Their time after their official duties ended have been spent doing very positive things. Bush, who was not very intelligent and was easily led by those around him, hides at his ranch. I suspect Trump will be in jail - or at least I hope so. Both Clinton and Obama gave speeches worth preserving and I’m sure more than a few have been published in Vital Speeches, a magazine devoted to the most consequential speeches of the day. I doubt Bush would dare make a submission and if one read any Trump speech, one’s mind would turn to sludge. They are the incoherent ramblings of a mad man. Words do matter and actions even more. And as has been said, “You shall know them by their fruits.” The Bush presidency resulted in disaster and death. Trump’s presidency so far has been wasteful, divisive and possibly treasonous. Those Republicans sure know how to pick their leaders.
3
I voted for Obama twice. I thought he was going to be a
great president. When his campaign slogan was "yes we can ". His policies were very week. He was reluctant to push for the things he campaigned on. We still have in Cuba people held in prisons that were suppose to be tried in open court.
Elizabeth Warren should have been appointed by him as the person to run the consumer protection agency but he did not have the courage to get out in front of this.
I say shame on Obama.
Obama was a neo liberal, schooled in the world of post Clinton post traumatic stress disorder. He is a good man with a first class mind who was conflict averse. The last two years of his second term were a complete disaster, rolled repeatedly by McConnell.
His presidency coincided with the collapse of the Democratic Party in many regions of the country. He and his team completely mishandled the 2010 mid terms and handed redistricting to Rs all over the country.
17
Okay, I know President Obama wasn't perfect. But he FEELS perfect in comparison with our current, illegitimate president, and there's simply no contest when it comes to how each person makes us feel. President Obama made me feel proud of our country despite our past failings and current struggles. I was hopeful for our future. Contrast that with today; enough said. It's too soon to criticize him, especially given the horror show of a presidency we have today. TOO SOON!
16
Hindsight is always 20:20. Obama needs to be taken in his full context. He did things he regrets I am sure. Who of us don't? But he was also a man the Republicans desperately tried to eliminate from the American consciousness. Think about it....'a Black President. We simply cannot have that, they believe. He will take away everything we've got and give it to 'those people'. So refuse to lift a single finger to help him. Try to make him illegitimate. Slur him, insult him, disdain him. And get as many Americans as possible to do the same. And it worked. And now we have the anti-Obama in the White House. Ah, maybe they overshot the mark....That's OK though, as long as 'we got rid of Obama and his way of thinking'. But if you really stop and think of where the country was when he took the office and what he accomplished, yes accomplished, with no help from Republicans. He helped us survive the great recession, moved health care into the 21st century as best he could, tried to make the world a safer place, and began to address global warming. He is incredibly popular and even more respected as a man than anyone since Jimmy Carter. And people, after the fact, look back and say....'You know. I think he was on to something. Ahead of his time'. What will the 20:20 hindsight say about Trump and the Republicans in a few years? You think they will draw a 90% positive view? Their policies as insightful and forward thinking? Or old and in the way?
6
I remember when President Obama had to remind Rep. Cantor that HE won and that elections had consequences! Perfect put down, but that's the moment I started to have anxiety that "White" America would not cheer whatever accomplishments he'd achieve. Malcolm X was right... they'd still see our president through narrow bigotry. I recommend readers to check out comments by Robert Kuttner on BBC World News America last night. The most cogent analysis of real threats to America outlined brilliantly. I didn't sleep soundly.
2
Obama ran as a reformer, but governed like a status quo liberal Republican. He deserves criticism.
Worse, after years of GOP subversion of governing norms, Obama assumed good intentions.
He didn't even get mad after they threw Garland in the trash.
5
@David Henry
He obviously didn't really care what the result of his ineffectiveness was, as he and his family are getting theirs, and we are stuck with the a worse world on all fronts.
Calm and dignity are his shtick. And it did US no good at all.
2
Barack Obama's Presidency was pathetic. When he was elected he had the Presidency, majorities in both the house and senate and he still couldn't get anything done. He was very good at kicking the can down the road on Russian election meddling, North Korea, bad trade deals for America, bad deals with China, Illegal immigration. He was showy but did very little.
7
Sigh. I, like most Democrats, miss both Barack and Michelle Obama. We miss their decency, integrity, warmth, style, authenticity. But it is well not to forget how feckless Obama was at the outset of his presidency. He was naive, a bit delusional actually, when he thought he could unify a polarized country through good will, eloquence, reason. Instead, he got rolled by Mitch McConnell and other Republicans. I was hugely frustrated with Obama, especially knowing that Hillary Clinton would have known how to deal with former colleagues in the Senate on day one. Still, because the Democrats held a slim majority in the Senate, Obama's stimulus package and health care legislation squeaked through. Then came the "shellacking" at the mid-term elections, which put congressional power into the deathly hands of intransigent, obstructive Republican majorities in both houses. It became impossible for essential legislation, such as John Kerry's bill to curb fossil-fuel emissions, to pass. To his credit, President Obama used his executive authority to good effect. He led a corruption-free administration. He and an excellent secretary of state strengthened foreign relationships that had frayed during the Bush-Cheney administration. So yeah, lots of Democrats want to build on the Obama-Biden legacy, ahem, in a radical way. Though I do want a woman as president (Warren!), I'd be fine with Biden (judgment, political experience and foreign policy expertise to the max).
1
Brilliant, of fire and ice, an extraordinary president at the helm of our Nation; one reaching to all Americans, one this average voter never expected to see in light and chivalry during these adverse times.
'The President is Speaking', my 95 aunt in CT. would say, she was to remain a staunch Democrat all her life.
A president to emulate in good manners and cachet; a president to give us hope that America, a young Nation, has the potential to go beyond the verbose Press, the Congress and Senate in a morose state of mind, with eyes wide open; with no confusion, collusion or corruption, this is a visionary personage who makes one want to do better for others.
He remains visible and true to nature, distinguished, but above all, he is My Wisdom in the midst of a terrifying recession and its aftermath, and there is quiet passion and fever in his blood, bringing to mind the word 'Cool'. An African friend mentions in passing that he is a lawyer. So was Lincoln, I reply.
On a mountain in the Middle East, a woman holding her dead son, is calling 'Where is Obama', but what does she know of a young Atticus Finch, Augustus the first Emperor of Rome, or this Sun Bird, Barack Obama the President of The United States...'He Cares'.
A universal voice, a representative for all our communities and cultures, there is something good about 'Irish Eyes', when they smile.
Ode to a true American, Our Last President, this early dawn is laced with threads of joy and Thanksgiving.
4
Perhaps Obama’s biggest fault is one many of the rest of us shared:
He underestimated the pure and pervasive evil festering in the Republican Party, and their willingness to cheat and lie their way to power, destroying our country in the process.
Nobody in their right mind could have believed that, until they saw it with their own eyes.
10
"Mr. Obama’s enduring popularity owes much to his status as the first black president of the United States."
And it owes much to the fact that he came into office on the heels of George W. Bush and the Iraq war, one of America's longest and most unpopular wars, and was followed by Donald Trump, one of - well, enough said right there.
2
Instead of concentrating on helping the failing US economy, the previous president instead shoved Obamacare (if you like your plan) down the throats of Americans right in the middle of the recession. That single move extended and worsened the great recession. After eight years the previous president has little to show in accomplishments. He did nothing about Russian election meddling, North Korea, veterans, unfair trade deals, illegal immigration etc. etc.
5
This is preposterous! A man's presidential record,sandwiched between the two worst presidents ever, is being raised by DEMOCRATS? Why are they not raising the catastrophic policies of the gop during the Bush years? Policies that we are still dealing with. Why are they not hammering the tax cuts to the filthy rich? The influences of people like Grover Norquist? Organizations like ALEC? The Pat Toomeys in the senate who enable ,and write laws that continue to create the wide chasm between the haves and have-nots? Surely,if they want to chip away at Biden, he has quite a record to assess. And it is fair game,I suppose,but there are much more "dastardly " targets to go after. Elizabeth Warren has shown the way to campaign.
5
Any criticisms that President Obama did not "resolve" issues like climate change and inequality (which are not necessarily invalid), must take into account the racism and obstructionism of McConnell and the Republican party. They never lifted a finger to help the American people and were only interested in tearing down the President, a process that continues today with his odious successor. President Obama spent the two years of his Democratic Congressional majority rescuing the economy and passing health care reform (watered-down though it was). After that, he was left battling the Republicans for the next 6 years and was forced to Executive Orders just to get anything done, which are now being undone, especially those related to the environment. President Obama was not perfect (who is?), but compared to the clown currently in office, is it any wonder that sensible Americans wax nostalgic for his time in office?
5
One of the proudest moments of my life as an American was the night Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008. He faced extraordinary opposition from the same racist, misogynistic, homophobic, white nationalist members of Congress who today kowtow to Donald Trump. Was Obama perfect? Of course not; no president has been. But he brought more honor, dignity, class, and intelligence to the office than I have known in my lifetime. And you know what? Joe Biden is no Barack Obama. I support Elizabeth Warren for president; she is as smart as Barack Obama and has the same kind of self-confidence and maturity that he demonstrated, but as her own person with her own vision. There is a reason Obama trounced Biden for the nomination in 2008 and it's the same reason Warren should trounce him in 2020. Warren will build on the Obama legacy, reverse or dilute the Trump catastrophe, AND do it without pressure from lobbyists and wealthy donors. That is a giant step forward and it is the direction we need to take now.
2
The president is the leader of a major political party. This facet of the job should occupy 10-15% of his time, campaigning for fellow party members. Speeches, chicken dinners, tons of handshakes and selfies.
Comes with the job.
Obama mostly ignored it.
A consequence was that Republicans picked up some 900 seats in state legislatures during his eight years in office.
Democrats clawed back about 300 of those seats in the 2018 midterm elections.
To use a baseball analogy, the Democrats have a weak farm system. If the Democratic Party was a professional baseball team, it would be closer to the Detroit Tigers than to the Houston Astros.
Now the party's presidential wannabes make the pilgrimage to Kalorama to kiss the ring.
Obama turned out to be just another Corporate Democrat, just like the Clintons, and the only change folks could believe in turned out to be the change in their own pockets.
He let McConnell use him as a doormat.
Mostly Americans will remember his decent head fake driving to a baseline jumper.
Not much else.
5
Candidates are clashing over Obama’s presidency because his VP is running on his legacy. They would do well to remember that their party took the house back in 2018 by defending Obama’s health care law against Republican efforts to dismantle it. Defense of the ACA should be an important weapon against Trump for whoever wins the democratic nomination. If the nominee runs on replacing it, s/he will be letting Trump off the hook. He will say that the Democrats agree with him that the law is no good, and the chance to draw a winning contrast will be lost. Whatever its flaws, the ACA is the most important piece of social welfare legislation since the Johnson administration, which ended over fifty years ago. And it barely passed, even with big Democratic majorities in Congress, after a brutal two-year ordeal. Any Democrat who wants to throw that achievement down the toilet is a fool. Particularly since the party will not have the votes in the Senate to overcome a Republican filibuster and replace it with something more comprehensive anyway, even if a Democrat wins the White House, which means that restoring and improving the ACA will be the only option at least until 2022. Democrats cannot win by attacking Obama’s legacy. They should instead be talking about building on it. That can and should include major pushes on climate change, progressive taxation, and other measures to combat runaway income inequality. It cannot include going back to the drawing board on health care.
2
With Obama's departure, so did class, intelligence, civility. No one who makes a difference on this planet does so without making mistakes. That comes from taking risks...calculated risks. But character is not a given; Obama set a high bar. It's disappointing to see so few willing to expect that much of themselves.
2
I'm a Democratic voter and I'm happy to have Obama legitimately criticized. For example: (1) he was slow to act on what came to be known as ObamaCare: the shock of Ted Kennedy's death (i.e., the shock of the loss of a filibuster-proof majority) is what finally got him going; Hillary was always way ahead of him on health care, and he has a lot to thank Pelosi for. (2) Gay marriage: a mix of being too cautious, too calculating (and in this case obviously miscalculating), and possibly a bit too conservative (narrow-minded/blind); he missed out on an easy win because he lacked, in this case, leadership/boldness. (3) Upped deportations of migrants. (4) Pretended to drink the water in Flint, Michigan, twice; the only person he fooled was himself. (5) He seduced himself and many others with soaring rhetoric (beware of seduction when hard-nosed pragmatism is needed). (6) Chronically naive about the character of the Republicans he was up against. (7) "Government should tighten its belt too." There is a lot more.
3
The most wondrous thing about this effect, is picture how Republicans are going to deal with the Trump legacy, almost three years after he's out of office. So in 2023 if we're lucky, 2027 if we're not. Worst case scenario, after eight solid years of Trump, do you think Republicans are going to be entirely opposed to badmouthing Trump's mistakes?
1
Those who criticize Obama seem to forget he was busy keeping the economy from falling into a second Depression with a stimulus package and passing historical healthcare legislation, while the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were still going on. Priorities had to be set the first couple of years. Democrats can blame themselves for missed opportunities by not showing up for the 2010 mid-term elections.
2
We voters chose a brilliant, very young, completely unseasoned and therefore untested fellow for the presidency after decades of Republican looting had rendered our nation & the global economy in crisis.
He did some things right, he did some things wrong. I'll be happy if we choose THIS time a more seasoned politician (yes, a politican), who does in fact know what she is doing, and is ready to press the program home, knows where the levers are, how to lean on those to be leaned on, and work around, chip away at, those opposed.
That is what I am hoping & expecting from our next President, Elizabeth Warren.
1
We are not criticizing Obama's policies because he didn't take us at the right path. We are just piggybacking on his already-achieved policies to enhance it based on the current political and social climate. When Obama came out with those policy years ago, we didn't think they weren't good enough; many from the other side of the aisle thought they were even too far-right movement. He had so much on his plate during his term of presidency, he had done enough to set the path as the aspiration for the future generations. His mentality isn't trying to be the Hero of the century by establishing policies that can last forever, but a leader to drag us out of the economic depression and draw up a road map for future generations.
2
What is there to pick apart? He delivered health care reform to millions of Americans like myself with preexisting conditions. I probably wouldn’t have health insurance without him. It was a huge lift for him to get that reform, and it probably cost him Congress after the first midterms, which prevented enactment of the rest of his agenda. But he got what he could from Congress and did what he could by executive order. There is nothing to criticize.
9
Wrong. I have no issue saying what he did wrong. He was never on a pedestal in my house. Everyone does good and bad. That is necessary in order to see a leader as human is to admit his flaws, not to hide them like the current child in office.
3
I'm not wasting my time criticizing an 8, when his "successor", a zero point zero is still around
9
In large part, an even more disgraceful and dispiriting set of comments than those on a rotten column from Farhad Manjoo from earlier this week.
It’s not merely the willful ignorance, the casual refusal to get simple things right, or the childishness from people who couldn’t be bothered to so much as vote. It’s not even the alibis for refusing to vote.
It’s the open accusations of shiftlessness, of shuckin’-and-jivin’, of laziness, of gutlessness. It’s the cheap racism, and yeah, that is exactly what a lot of this is.
And it’s the pretense that this is actual serious criticism of a President and his administration. Gimme an honest Trumpist ignoramus over this stuff any old day. Because in ten years or so, the “leftists,” who think Obama wasn’t good enough for them will all be contributing to “National Review,” blatting about how once they were leftists, but now they see.
Oh, well. At least the article itself merely asked some decent questions.
2
Democrats need to face the ugly truth of the Obama presidency, which put in motion the backlash that brought us the Trump nightmare. Only by recognizing that most US politicians of all persuasions serve their own monied class, we can take our country back. Time to become pragmatic, if we want to wake up from this nightmare.
1
By all appearances all Obama really did to trigger that backlash was to be black. Why else would, for example, the instigator of birtherism work so assiduously to tear down elements of his legacy that actually enjoy widespread, cross-party popularity? I refuse to see his very existence in a position of power as a problem. Not in this country with its under-realized but beloved and beautiful narratives of freedom, opportunity and success in proportion to hard work, not class, sex or race.
2
Along the the good will of being a popular former president comes the resonsibility of being a popular former president. Like it or not, President Obama must face up to the fact that he is the Democratic Partys standard bearer. He will soon need to hit the campaign trail hard, if only in friendly confines, and start filling the coffers of the DNC. And, he must soon show support, however tacit, for those few candidates with the best chance at unseating the current occupant of the White House. And for all of his shortcomings, what he did accomplish was most decidedly without ANY support from the right. Never forget Mitch McConnels infamous qoute from election night 2008: "Our number job is to ensure this is a 1 term president."
3
Obama was a A- to B+ President. He did a few things badly, few things okay and few things well. But he did hire too many from the Clinton administration. Not a smart move. Michelle was terrific. Now can we move on?
4
Obama was a A- to B- to B+ President. He did a few things badly, few things okay and a few things well. But he did hire too many from the Clinton administration. Not a smart move. Michelle was terrific. Now can we move on?
1
“Imagine a gentleman, and you have imagined everything that he was not.” (Referring to William Jennings Bryan).
“What it (the word aristocrat) connotes ... is simply the best type of man—that is, the man whose aspirations are directed to the achievement of what is rare and difficult, and not to the achievement of what is easy and mean—the man, in brief, whose capacities differ positively from those of the average man, not only quantitatively but also qualitatively, and whose activity is spent in doing what the average man is unable to do or afraid to do.”
-- H.L. Mencken
President Obama may be the last approximation of a true gentleman and aristocrat ever to be elected and serve as President of the United States during our lifetimes.
I hope that his doctors are preserving some of his DNA for use by future generations.
12
Obama was a wonderful president -- it is we, the people, who let him down. "Wonderful" because he was honest, decent, trustworthy, smart, loyal, funny, hardworking, and inspirational. He led by example, never "phoning it in" or ducking tough issues. He had an understanding of a future role for American in the world based on strong alliances.
"We let him down" because the Democrats didn't mobilize sufficient public interest and pressure to achieve Obama's goals and objectives. We left him to fight alone the total obstruction of the GOP-led Congress, most notably the refusal of McConnell to consider Obama's Supreme court nominee.
21
Unfortunately President Obama did not go out on the hustings and ask for our help.
4
Unfortunately he did, and you stayed on the couch.
14
@Moses Cat
Remember when he told an assembled group of Wall Streeters that he was the only thing between them and the pitchforks? Someone who says something as ingratiating as that is not then going out on the balcony to preach rebellion. He was telling them he's their guy - and he was.
5
He was overall a good President, but we shouldn't for get about his usage of drones, specifically against American citizens without due process. Regardless of what Anwar al-Awaki did, he was an American citizen and entitled to a trial by jury. The US President doesn't get to just assassinate American citizens even if they are terrorists.
5
President Obama will be remembered for approving spying on a political opponent during an election campaign.
Which would place him a few rungs below Nixon...
PS I voted for Obama in 2008.
In 2009 I was puzzled by the Copenhagen big commotion about human caused climate change, and started to check the data, as a physicist. All the climate data available. I love data, the only thing which matters in modern science.
The warming started 300 years ago, so it couldn't have been caused by modern industrial emissions.
I decided to never again vote for any politician who pushes scams, because they are ready to do anything...
In Obama's case, I was right. As the spying scandal, soon to come, will show.
Trump saw through the scam, it's a requirement for businessmen, and got us out of the climate multi trillion swindle.
I am happy I switched. My college colleagues, to whom I talked, have also now checked the data, and reached the same conclusions. I haven't asked them, but they would likely vote for Trump too...
4
Right. Donald “Trump Vodka,” Trump, disperser of scams.
6
Obama deserves neither all the credit for what went well nor all the blame for what didn't during his watch, but much of the criticism of him is naive at best and disingenuous at worst.
When Obama came into office in '08, he was elected in no small part around foreign policy issues. We were worried about another terrorist attack like 9/11, we were tired of Bush's endless warmongering, our international alliances were frayed by unilateral military strikes, and Iran was a rising nuclear threat. On Obama's watch we killed Bin Laden, ended the war in Iraq, rebuilt our alliances with Western nations, and succeeded in at least halting further nuclear enrichment by Iran.
Domestically, Obama substantially reduced the annual budget deficit, and passed the ACA, which substantially lowered the number of uninsured people and assured those with preexisting conditions of coverage. Economically, his stimulus plan and bailouts succeeded in reversing the recession.
While the middle class may not have flourished subsequently, would anyone argue that we're not currently far better off than we were in say, 2009, when it was hard to even find a job and people's homes were basically worthless? And for those who think a far-left economic agenda will be a panacea for a problem that's been brewing since the 70's, look at the Yellow Jackets in France or the unemployment rate in Spain or the flagging German economy.
Obama was not perfect but he was an above average leader who accomplished much.
12
@Jon P. Obama could just pronounce "nuclear" correctly and he was already one step ahead of Bush.
1
@sthomas1957 And yet what I wouldn't give to trade in our current, "very stable genius" for that big-eared idiot from Texas...
1
Criticism of Obama by his own party should have begun 10 years ago. A man who took us all for chumps, knowing that as a nation we'd want to feel good about ourselves by electing a black man. Given his soaring rhetoric, expectations were indeed raised, but not unfairly. Instead of Teddy Roosevelt however, we got someone straight out of the Ivy League stuffed corporate boardroom, secret handshake and all, who gave away the store to Wall Street. Now he's out cavorting with billionaires. Big surprise, big phony.
7
Nor were two high-profile Democratic presidents — Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt — perfect.
Wilson pushed through Congress embodied in his New Freedom legislative program. Very impressive, with anti-trust legislation, creation of the Federal Reserve, much of it promoted by Louis D. Brandeis.
But Wilson was an unmistakable segregationist, tied to his Southern origins.
FDR advanced a lengthy list of domestic legislation that was decidedly liberal (e.g.,
Social Security and strong labor legislation as well as the TVA.)
But FDR was purposefully mute on social legislation that would diminish civil rights for African Americans for fear of alienating his Southern Democratic allies. (If you want a counter interpretation of FDR read the various books by Ira Katznelson).
Imperfect,yes of course. Perfect politicians are illusory.
Wilson as well as FDR accomplished many legislative benchmarks.
Let me know if you can find the perfect Democratic President.
3
Mostly I would like to know why an apparently well informed President Obama left us with the current administration. It certainly doesn’t look as if they took any kind of high road, or at the very least President Obama made a wrong turn on that high road.
And the media fell over themselves at his every word, never asked a hardball question, and gave him a pass on many blunders.
5
I'm not sure you should paint "democratic voters" as one single group. I voted for Obama two times, but he had several failings as a president. I'm not opposed to discussing those failings in a serious light. I would suggest a more nuanced line of writing.
8
All this is simple GOP diversion and deflection - a side show to fire up their base and to wound the Democratic Party going into the 2020 election cycle. It won't work.
8
Obama inherited a financial mess, and brought this country back despite record obstructionism from Republicans. Passage of the Affordable Care Act was a monumental achievement, which others are now able to build on. And he did it all with patience, class, good humor, and not a hint of scandal. In the face of the current incompetent, lawless and corrupt administration, who wouldn't be nostalgic?
17
If the criticism of Obama's presidency is relevant to today then speak your mind. However, we are in a constitutional crisis with a president undermining constitutional powers, environmental protection, trade laws, Federal standards and anything else you can think of to undermine Obama's legacy. Frankly I am getting sick of being a fair-minded democrat who has to suffer through endless political banter by morons.
6
Obama was a decent man who bent over backward to accommodate Republican thugs. He also hired too many Clintonites who were in the Center or Right of the Center. He did a few things very well, few things okay and a few things badly. Hillary as Sec of State was good. That makes him a A- to B + President. Now can we move on!
3
Everyone should remember that Obama was a center left candidate in 2008. He had promised to improve health care, and he did. It wasn't perfect because nothing perfect had a chance. He pushed through a package to save the country after the crash. It was too small, but it was what he could get passed. There were all sorts of things that he should have done, but his opposition was never interested in the good of the country, they were interested in a scorch earth program so that they could get back in power. You can tell how much good he did by the intense efforts of the Donald and Mitch to dismantle everything that he did. Now is not the time to pick apart everything that he was and did.
9
Historians have rated President Barack Obama as 12th when ranking which of our American presidents is best overall.
To be the first African American President and execute the office with the ability and grace he consistently demonstrated was no easy task. There was never a breath of scandal or criminal behavior. He bailed the nation out of a probable Depression. He revived a moribund automotive industry. And he did what no-one had managed to do before - construct and implement an initial national health care system that was capable of eventually growing into universal coverage, extended the age of a child's inclusion in parental insurance to age 26 and immediately prevented existing conditions from blocking anyone from getting health care coverage.
None of this was a minor or easy accomplishment. So, NO - I don't want to hear him bashed by candidates or citizens who have yet to achieve anything close to this, and who undervalue what it took to be the first African American President, with all the Republican opposition and all the hate-monger attacks this daily entailed for him. Recognizing excellence in a human being is not deification - it is an acknowledgment of a courageous and intelligent man who served us all well - and rendering him the respect he has so justly earned.
15
I dont like him, and his post presidency gives lie to his presidency, but, yes, probably the best guy since fdr to hold the post.
And it IS history (though Obama could help with now, but...he's rich and doesn't care).
So let's move on.
1
Sure, all men—and women—have feet of clay but Obama’s failures didn’t stem from hubris and I feel some of Biden’s failures do. His vainglorious “it’s my turn” attitude is sure to come a cropper. Will I vote for him should he be my party’s nominee? Of course! He’s not my favorite but he’s far, far better than our current POTUS..
2
He wasn’t perfect. Who is? But Obama’s tenure as president made me proud to be an American. He cared about people.
Today with criminal Trump I am ashamed that this great country has stooped so low. We had a chance to do better and we blew it. We elected the worst possible human to be president.
18
So don't do it.
Radiate the good he and Mrs. Obama spread throughout the world.
8
Barack Obama let a little boy touch his hair. Can Donald Trump do that? Barack Obama remembers Michelle didn't have Sasha and Mali by herself; Trump? So- no. No negative Obama words.
10
Seriously, Democrats - you’re running against Donald Trump, not Barack Obama.
Fight the REAL enemy.
17
I would love to see the Democratic Presidential candidates pledge to nominate former President Obama for the US Supreme Court. When the Democrats take over the White House a Justice Obama could undo the damaging policies of the Trump Presidency. PAUL FEINER, Greenburgh Town Supervisor NY
15
@PAUL FEINER
Excellent. Thank you.
6
I have zero desire to examine the flaws in his thinking or his decisions with hatred, or to judge him cruelly, but yes, we need to look at his time. Especially because he was the very best stewart imaginable for the type of politics he believed in, its a good opportunity to see what they were and how they fared.
Just a short time ago, less than 3 years, we had manners and decency in our speaking. His legacy deserves to be considered with the compassion and depth that he offered to us.
11
I remember Obama:
As the President who was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize before taking office.
As the candidate who promised to punish the banksters who sank the American economy, but as President brought Wall-Street shills into his administration.
As the regular golf partner and bosom-buddy of the notorious bankster Lyoyd Blankstein.
As the President who rejected the pleas of his economic advisors to create a massive stimulus program to revive the American economy, thus paving the way for Trump’s victory in 2010 and making Republicans as the new champion of the common man.
As the candidate who hinted strongly he was for a single-payer health plan, but as President, rejected the plans of his advisers to create one and instead created the hybrid monstrosity know as Obama Care.
As the man who read the Keynote Speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention, a speech that was rewritten countless times by David Axelrod and his staff to correct the mistakes in the original.
As the President who needed a teleprompter to say the simplest things and even with one, stumbled through his speeches.
As the President who believed, even after four years in the White House, that he could charm Republicans into supporting his agenda, a naïve belief Republicans exploited to the hilt in the Congressional Election of 2010 which ended Democratic rule of the House.
In short, I remember Obama as poor imitation of a leader, the enabler of Donald Trump, and the man who ran the Democratic Party into a wall.
4
It's long overdue for Obama to get the disrespect he so richly deserves. Never has such an unimaginative defender of the status quo been so often misconstrued as a man with vision.
4
When I was in high school in a small town North of Milwaukee in the late 60's, I was lucky to have a social studies teacher that loaded us all on a bus a took us into the inner city of Milwaukee.
We walked with Father James Groppi and the Milwaukee Commandos thru the the streets and alleys of the area.
Eye opening for a bunch of white kids from a small farm town.
My question to all of the West Coast and East Coast elites:
Have you ever set foot in a West Coast ghetto or East Coast ghetto? Over all of these years has anyone in your party actually helped the inner city poor??? Jackson, Sharpton etc. I think they helped themselves.
The plight of the inner city poor is now worse than it was then.
And I am a Democrat. I cannot believe over all of these years nothing has happened. BUT WE HAVE HOPE . Hope does not put food on the table. Jobs put food on the table.
To the Democratic candidates: Put forth your ideas to help raise up the people of the inner city. All you want are their votes. Oh yes, you can attend all of the big money fundraisers and rub elbows with all of the West and East coast biggies. Makes you feel important and good.
When I see the plan I will vote for your party.
2
Obama signed military budgets larger than W’s and bombed seven Muslim-majority countries that hadn’t attacked the US. These are Bush-Cheney policies that Obama - and 45 - continued, so criticizing them shouldn’t be considered direct shots at BHO. And yet only Tulsi Gabbard has addressed the negative consequences of these illegitimate and unaffordable aggressions.
4
Let Obama and his wife to enjoy the glamorous life of their rich friends, their travels and luxurious style of life. They are the past.
3
Obama is this generation’s Carter. Ok guy, awful President.
2
Whether he is a great president or not, Barack Obama is a once in a generation leader. He made the unthinkable possible - the first African American President. He restored the dignity of the office of the President.
But to defeat Trump the democrats need to run against Trump and not Obama.
Trump continues to use the same strategy of miners, manufacturing jobs, illegal immigration - and they all resonate with voters. Even Minnesota is leaning to Trump.
Democrats have not put up a credible candidate and Ilhan Omar and Tlaib continue is turn off moderates and independents.
We are stuck with the memory of Obama and the presence of Trump.
4
Obama definitely deserves criticism. He did his best, maybe, but his polished speech simply covered some unwise decisions regarding environment, immigration, and some other issues. His reign; what a shame.
1
Part of the problem Democrats have is their unwillingness to be honest about the overall failure of the Obama administration and the public's profound disappointment with his dithering timorousness record. Obama is precisely the reason we have Donald Trump.
Ironically it is also because of Trump that Obama's sheen is all the brighter today - and George W.'s too. Who would have ever thought Dubya would be missed? Compared to Trump, he's a statesman! Alas though, this too shall pass. When Trump is finally consigned to the dustbin of history, G.W. will go back to being a disaster and Obama as a thoroughly middling, gilded-age shill.
1
Obama did not do such a great job with the DPRK and told Trump this is going to be your worst problem. When Obama took office the DPRK failed to detonate a crude atomic bomb that misfired. * years later hey successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. To say nothing of their development of ballistic missiles during this 8 year period. Any analysis of North Korea's current position fails to even discuss this as part of the omission method of news bias.
Obama was a great President, but of course what he accomplished greatly depended on who was in Congress. From 2008 - 2010, Obama achieved a lot, thanks to Pelosi and Reid - economic revival, health care, patent laws, and many others.
With Boehner as Speaker, Obama couldn't do much, as Boehner was more focused on 2012 election than anything - there were opportunities on immigration, social security, military spending, medicare. Of course with Mitch in charge from 2015 on, nothing doing until it is okay with Koch Brothers, and now Trump.
11
I voted for Obama twice. But it is about time Democrats face up to the sad reality that Obama was ultimately an ineffectual president whose unwillingness to use his office to decisively fight for long-term goals and values was a squandered opportunity to remake the political playing field in this country. He was elected on Hope and Change, the country wanted a fighter and someone to swing for the fences... and then Obama bunted, and bunted again and again. The Tea Party, the electoral losses the Democrats suffered in mid-terms, these were not pre-ordained but a direct and almost predictable result of Obama's unwillingness and inability to productively and honestly tap into the public's anger and desire for real change. Eight years later, a corrupt demagogue named Trump did exactly that.
7
For right or wrong, President Obama would stay up past midnight to educate himself, read reports and answer letters - many of which he wrote personally to the citizenry of our country. How many letters has Trump penned after midnight..?
8
So what.
3
@Lily, Obama’s dedication to understanding all aspects of his job and his thoughtfulness to the people he served were dignified and kind. Especially in comparison to someone who chooses to use his time on Twitter to embarrass others and defend himself from imagined slights rather than study the aspects of his job.
11
@Jane K
I love you Jane K !!
Thank you!
4
"To have little appetite for the brawl" does not mean "I don't want to hear him being criticized."
Hello?!
1
Similar to how the Republicans ignored G.W. Bush's legacy...
2
I read Jane Mayer’s book, The Dark Side.
Chilling.
1
Obama was the best US president in recent history, and among the best worldwide. But Trump's election can be laid in part to Obama's failures, as Obama's victory in 2008 can be laid to George W Bush's much more grievous failures. Obama greatest weakness was not recognizing the increasing deprivation and despair of middle and working class Americans while the rich continued growing fabulously richer.
Hillary was attacked for her lack of such awareness, but Obama's charismatic persona hid his weaknesses. The surging Black Lives Matter movement was another dimension of Obama's failure to recognize how badly African Americans were hurting.
2
Dems fighting over Obama when Trump is in office is one of the most obnoxious and indulgent things I can imagine. Focus people! Focus!
8
Obama by no means was a great president, mediocre at best. His foreign policy was a disaster-Iran, Syria, China, Mexico all failures.
5
Only Joe Biden and Jerrold Nadler have weaker game.
Barry was never bold.
That's why he got shaken down by McConnell, Bohner and Ryan.
An anti-Iraq war candidate who demanded transparency, as president he didn't look into the WHY and HOW we got into the Iraq War. He gave W a pass. As a progressive candidate, as president he hired Tim Geithner to do his bidding to bail out Wall Street, not Main Street. He spent all his chips on the Health Care, and came out with a website that crashed. He lost the majority in the Senate (and thereby the Supreme Court), the House, and the Governorships during his 8 years. Most of his accomplishments were Executive Orders, not laws, and they are now mostly overturned.
And don't forget, the Opioid crisis turned into an epidemic during his 8 years.
After voting for him twice, I can't wait to see what his Netflix specials are selling.
10
Everyday we wake up to this nightmare Presidency. There are several outrages and assaults on our semocracy each day. Whatever Obama’s faults we just cannot tolerate hearing about them right now. It’s about psychological survival.
11
Biden knows how to pound his fist on a lectern and pretend to work himself into a lather. But after all these years in government he should really be able to move a crowd by distilling his knowledge of policy into terms that can be understood by working class people.
In a sense, he is as bad a campaigner as Hillary Clinton was.
I would be grateful if the media would stop declaring him the "frontrunner" when there are all these indications that he's an accident waiting to happen.
I feel like there should be some sort of informal fairness doctrine that gives us a proportionate amount of coverage based on issues and ideas. After Jay Inslee dropped out, we heard an awful lot about how he had the best plan to address climate change...that would have been nice to know earlier in the campaign.
Also, the DNC and the debate process needs to be scrapped and redesigned from the ground up.
Hillary's DNC cronies lost the election for her.
1
I agree. Criticize the man's policies, but if you crtiticize him you won't get my vote period.
7
Imagine the Obama presidency if the senate had treated him with respect. If they had worked with him. The things that could’ve been accomplished. It’s miraculous Obama was able to do what he did.
Imagine! a world without Mitch McConnell.
27
Nonsense. I voted for Obama and I criticized him for being a conservative.
3
I voted for Obama 2008 because he was a charismatic candidate. However, he had trouble in the crocodile infested waters of DC politics. A charismatic man but not able to win issues he believed in.
So, in 2012, I did a write in...the Dali Lama. In 2016, another write in for His Grace in Tibet as it was a choice between a woman who had no position on any issue...she felt she deserved the win because she was female and nothing more....or Trump. Oh, maybe I was supposed to feel sorry for Hillary and vote for her anyway. At any rate, Trump won.
So, it seems the economy has just hit boom times even though Trump is attacked daily by mainstream media.
Now 2020 looms ahead. If Warren wins...I will jump off a tall bridge....having to watch her histrionics until January 2025 would be cruel and unusual punishment. She lied about her ethnicity. Cheap trick. She is hoping we are all stupid lemmings. After all, millions did not question this blue-eyed pug nosed blond who claimed to be Native American for decades....who knew? Well, her Paw Paw told her so, so it must be true. Okay. If you other voters believe that, I have this bridge in Brooklyn...
So, it seems Trump will win in 2020. I will do another write in for the Dali Lama. How did Rip Van Winkle fall into a deep sleep for many years? I am ready for that. Politics in the US is just poor entertainment...unfunny comedy and in dramatic drama. Where are those Greek plays when we need them?
7
And did you get your thankyou note from Melania yet? The one with the nice mint in it?
5
@Robert
No, Robert. Some of us are genuine independent voters. Sometimes a Democrat. Sometimes a Republican. But never someone who doesn’t seem capable of leading our country. I trust you will be serving dessert tonight with a political party’s endorsement...without actually knowing the ingredients. Not me. I don’t vote red or blue each time just because I always have. Some voters actually think before voting. Try it sometime. Exercise your mind.
1
President Obama is our Reagan and he should be lionized by our party.
5
The NYT surely seems invested in keeping democrats bickering. Not a potential quarrel left out. It does get the clicks, I guess. But the cost to the nation could be immense. Not for the first time, either.
7
Criticize President Obama at your own risk. I have a very large and nasty mouth.
Seriously.
13
We don't like to hear about the specks in Obama's eye when theres a whole forest growing out of the entire GOP's faces.
14
Biden is not Obama. We need Elizabeth Warren's mental sharpness, abundant energy, and consistent passion for families, women's rights, and economic opportunity.
She has it all, with the debating skill and fearlessness to go toe-to-toe with Trump.
14
The hypocrisy of white liberal voters is revealing. Would Republicans savage one of their own the way the Left is piling onto Obama? Thank God the man is above the petty, sniveling loser mentality behind the Bernie Sanders and, yes, Warren camps. I wonder if Obama had been white, would they be tearing down his legacy so quickly?
12
So, in order to call out liberal hypocrisy we need to create absurd scenarios? If
Obama had been white we would not be commenting about him because he would have never been elected. To ignore his race is to minimize the transcendental moment his victory represented. If anything, I believe it’s his race that protects him from more backlash for what could have been.
3
As a Obama supporter and admirer, I agree that I hate when the candidates start picking on him and his policy. There is no need to do that. They need to spend more time on what they could do not criticize someone who is no longer an active politician. You can bet that I will not be supporting anyone who does this in the primary. They better take notice and cut it out!
8
I'm an Obama fan, not an Obama fanatic. Obamacare is a right-wing Heritage Foundation idea. I am not voting for a candidate who clings to it as the be-all-and-end-all just because Obama managed to get it past. It was disheartening to watch 8 out of 10 candidates defending a Republican idea in the last Democratic debate simply because it was passed by Obama. We need a real Democratic answer to the healthcare system and that's Medicare-for-All.
7
Obama lacked experience. He lacked the courage of his political convictions. He was clever and savvy, but he didn't bother to create an ideological foundation for action.
10
Dems, please focus on unity and beating Trump. Figure out how to get us out of this mess.
11
@Saints Fan We’re currently in a manufacturing recession. The trucking industry is in recession. Consumer sentiment is down for the year. All you can really point to are the now waning effects of the tax cuts. Trump’s trade wars are wiping those out. If Trump’s economy was really booming, why is he bleating for lower interest rates? The answer is that it’s quickly slipping away.
1
Obama is a decent and thoughtful human being, and was one of our better Presidents. I truly miss his reasonable and graceful habits in the job. He tried to work with Republicans and if they had been willing to meet him half way, would have achieved the kind of bipartisanship we have not seen since the early 1960's.
12
I viewed Harris and Castro favorably. But in my eyes, they diminished themselves with their attacks on Biden. It isn't that no attacks are allowed, but the nature of their attacks seemed disingenuous. Their own positions didn't seem so markedly different.
I also think that Biden diminishes himself by donning the cloak of Obama. Achilles' armor was glorious, but it didn't turn out so well for Patroclus to don it. Better and more honorable to stand on your own merits.
I am delighted to have candidates detail their own plans and highlight differences - this is helpful. But I question the judgement of candidates who think that tear-down attacks on others are somehow consistent with the larger goal of replacing Trump. I'd like the standards to stay a bit higher.
3
Trying to improve on the legislation from 10 years ago is not really an attack on Obama's "architecture" or his legacy. Was it really "Mr. Obama’s architecture for health care policy"? Or rather the only path that was even potentially doable at the time? And while Obama lent his support to the legislation, it was mostly drafted by Democrats in congress and sheparded through by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.
3
Come on! The guy had 8 years and never a whiff of scandal. Squeaky clean you’d have to say with a palpable sense of empathy with the common citizen and what a speechifier, right up there with JFK on that score. It’s just a shame the make up of Congress wasn’t a bit more conducive to change. He’d have gone down in history for his accomplishments with the likes of Mr. Roosevelt.
11
I am very disappointed by the cheap shots against each other by most of the candidates. Stop squabbling. It is critical to defeat Trump. Showing that you understand that will mean you are worthy of my consideration.
3
He had this country in the palm of his hand and he chose to keep the status quo that brought us the worst income inequality in the history of the world, which he is benefiting from now.
He chose to back Wall Street, not Main Street. He backed pipelines and fracking, not action on climate change. For that alone Obama betrayed us our future. That I pay 1/4 of my income on healthcare that covers nothing so I can’t use it, is his fault.
That he had a dignified manner still resulted in at least 63 million in this country giving the middle finger to the neocon liberal status quo that destroyed the sole of the nation. We will never know how many voted for Hillary out of the blackmail game of the lesser of two evils the DNC forced us to play.
No, Obama further abuses executive power with 26,000 bombs and never consulted Congress. .This. is all a tragic extension of the Obama years, when we so desperately needed actual change... and got none.
7
A law professor at Harvard and a former senator is a much better credential than a 'businessman' for president.
11
Obama was never a professor of any kind at Harvard; he was a law student. But typical of his fairy-tale career, he was made a lecturer in constitutional a law at Chicago Law, despite having never written a paper (his students said he was useless as a teacher). The same applies to his being elected to President of Harvard Law Review as a student without a single paper under his belt. Obama was being marketed from the very beginning. And yet the fable of his brilliant mind grows.
1
@geoff Any amount of experience in one of our great schools and government will be better than that of a 'businessman' who failed with Trump University.
We’ve gone from the sublime to the ridiculous. I miss him every day.
Was he perfect? No. He was human and like all of us he made some mistakes. But he was an intelligent, thoughtful President who loves this country, cared about his legacy, and was held in high regard by our allies. He’s a wonderful husband and father. The antithesis of what’s currently in the WH.
So Democratic candidates, from a fellow Democrat, please don’t go there. Focus on current issues and defeating trump.
20
OBAMA'S ego, conceit and over the top regulatory policy produced Trumps candidacy and victory. How can any Democrat forgive him? Trump's ego, conceit and over the top twitter policy will produce a Warren victory. How can any Republican forgive him?
2
@Lilly
Aint’t gonna happen there, Lilly!
Anyone running on taking away people’s insurance will lose for certain.
Taking things away from citizens that they want and have had for a long time is a guaranteed loss.
3
Obama muffed an historic opportunity to remake the direction of this country and the world.
Majority control of both Houses of Congress and he provided nothing but weak, half measures on key issues.
No one brought to book for the massive frauds that triggered the financial crisis in 2008... Say what you will. Obama was a timid President who paved the path for the Trump Presidency we have today.
10
So easy for us armchair presidents to insist that we know what Obama could have done but didn’t! It’s actually pretty Trump-like to think that we know more than Obama did. I seriously doubt whether a president chosen randomly from the pool of New York Times subscribers would have solved income equality, created universal healthcare, attacked Wall Street with no economic repercussions, and still won re-election handily. When people say “Why didn’t Obama accomplish [insert liberal priority]?” they’re forgetting that maybe it couldn’t be done AND that even if it could have been, we really don’t know what problems might have ensued or what part of his coalition might have turned against him as a result.
9
Was he perfect?
No. Who is?
Did he do is best?
Absolutely!
Do I miss him?
You have no idea how much.
Imagine, just imagine what more he could have accomplished had he not had Turtle McConnell oppose anything and everything during Mr Obama's term.
Merrick Garland would be a Supreme Court Justice, if nothing else.
I do think, however, President Obama could have done more in his first months in office. But I do not begrudge him for not taking advantage of a majority Congress then.
I do believe the financial crisis was too big a worry.
I miss him! I miss his decency, his honesty, his intellect, his sense of humor.
And I miss his wife too!
Michelle, you were one classy FLOTUS!
10
It's a great pity that Obama was saddled with Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.
7
@Grace, saddled with her? He appointed her. It was supposedly part of the "deal" to "heal" the party after he "robbed" the anointed one of her nomination in '08. . . Although, reportedly, her desire to install Clinton hatchet-man Sid Blumenthal along with her was a bridge too far. . . especially after, as reported by McClatchy and others, Blumenthal planted the seeds of the birther conspiracy nonsense during the bitter 2008 primary season, only to watch Trump then hype the nonsense further later. . .
6
In 2009, we needed a president willing to challenge the neoliberal orthodoxy that brought us the '08 crash and ensuing recession. Obama came to office with a mandate for change. He could have chosen to devote his presidency to the rebuilding of the middle and working classes. But once he took office, he pivoted hard to the right, and time and again conceded to an extremist Republican party, seeming to value bipartisanship as an end in itself over the enactment of strong, substantive policy. In some cases, he was even willing to surrender core Democratic party values, as when he formed a deficit commission when he should have formed a jobs commission or when he offered up cuts to Social Security. He made no sustained effort to inform, persuade, and rally the public on behalf of real health care reform, tough financial regulation, and a modern New Deal to rebuild infrastructure, create jobs, and fight climate change. He couldn't have accomplished everything, but legitimizing right-wing ideas and discarding progressive options meant that urgent problems were left to fester, paving for the way for a demagogue to exploit public fear and anger.
6
President Obama mirroring JFK regarding hopeful change, inspiring rhetoric, adoring crowds, mass global affection even love. But unlike President Kennedy’s tragic ending generating deep mourning, fawning (justifiable) historiography, 1970-80’s critical historical deconstruction, President Obama serving two full mostly successful two terms possessing full record meaning earlier critical appraisal.
3
Once again, the Democrats are showing the voters that they are in a circle fire squad at each other. Not going to get a shot at the President elections and probably not Senate. Like Will Rogers said in the 1930's "I am not a member of any organized political party. I'm a Democrat."
4
There is a lexical disconnect in Mr. Burns’ essay that mirrors the apparent disconnect now plaguing the Democratic Party. It begs correction. One need but look at yesterday’s New York Times Op-Ed page and the contribution from Farhad Manjoo to sense that there is a divide in the Party. And that divide, to hew to correct language, is between liberals and those of the left. The unfortunate conflation of liberalism with leftism—contrived by conservatives in the late 20th century for political advantage—does little favor for those of us who support the “liberal” Democratic Party of FDR, JFK, Carter, Clinton, and Obama. We may be, in fact, the majority in the Party.
2
That’s right
Leave Obama alone
9
Worst president ever!
Divider in chief
6
You mean Trump? Agreed!
7
Where did the Times find this picture of Obama. Seriously lol
...and the Democrats adopt the time tested battle formation of the circular firing squad.
4
It'll be awhile before we have a president as impressive as Obama. The thing that keeps me optimistic is that we elected Obama - twice - between W. and Trump. So something must be working in our democracy.
10
I love President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle. The fact that Trump despises them cements my loyalty and devotion.
14
Ok. Let's get so upset with what we didn't like about Barack's presidency that we ignore the fact that the Republicans don't care what their people did wrong.
If we lose, what will we forfeit? Everything that matters to us.
10
I can't imagine any fascination with Obama.
His total lack of any conception of economics kept the economy in a depression that began in the Bush administration.
Obama's failures and bad decisions couldn't have been worse and it was as if they were designed to fail.
I don't see how such a failure is so revered.
9
@mrmeat I must ask you where you were during the Obama years. He inherited a Republican-generated Great Recession. He pushed to regulate the causes of recession, bailed out critical infrastructure companies, sewed up a tattered economy leaving it growing and prospering, reduced unemployment consistently, offered a way for millions of Americans to receive healthcare insurance they could not previously afford, and left the United States standing on its own two feet again. Trump inherited a prospering economy and work force still benefiting from President Obama's policies. Trump is taking credit for that growing economy while taking a wrecking ball to everything. Certainly President Obama made errors. All people do. But he had more successes than failures and laid a foundation future leaders can build upon. It's up to us to stop Trump before he tears it all down and forces us into another Great Depression, not a recession. Is Vice President Biden the candidate to help us get well and grow? I don't believe so. Longing for the Golden Years won't make them happen. We need energy, enthusiasm, and an appetite for successful recovery and future growth. I don't believe Bernie is the person to do that either. He is inconsistent and does not have a plan for healing us after the Trump years. Their are others more steady and capable.
6
President Obama achieved more progressive goals than any American President in over a generation. Yet, the liberal wing of his party continues to incoherently argue “yes but...”. This shows a lack of understanding of our system of government. Passing legislation is nearly impossible without some support from the opposing party. On top of this, liberal voters abandoned President Obama in 2010 requiring him to face a hostile Congress. He achieved more with less than almost any other leader. The liberal wing of the Democratic Party is now ensuing the re-election if the current White House occupant by demanding that its nominee stake our positions that have no chance of being enacted by Congress. A simple message of returning to normalcy, shoring up the ACA and social safety net, tackling the debt, nominating qualified judges, enforcing existing environmental laws and perhaps taking modest steps towards making education and training more affordable is a winning message. Point out that the current occupant of the White House invited the Taliban to the White House should be the cherry on top of a winning pitch to voters.
9
@Maya EV, Obama should have invited the Taliban a long time ago, to end the war, instead of continuing the Bush-Cheney Forever Wars his entire 8 years. . . and, if Trump doesn't get the nation out of these wars, and the Democrats have a half-way credible candidate (not at all guaranteed), he can expect to face the wrath of the voters also. . . always trillions to throw down the toilet hole of the military-industrial complex, to destroy and then rebuild other nations. . . and never money to invest in the United States.
2
Democrats-Once again managing to quickly circle the wagons against a perceived threat only to find that their sharp shooters are aiming toward the center of the circle. Ready, aim, Fire!
8
Looking at photos of Obama are almost more than I can stand right now. Smile for us Mr. President! Remind us what it was like to be represented by such an exceptional human being. Spell something for us! Speak a complete and coherent sentence for us! Reach out for your wife and children and our children with love and kindness! Dance cheek to cheek, tell a joke, play with your dog! Fill our White House with artists and poets and music! How we've fallen.
14
I would take honesty, integrity, thoughtful reflection, humor, historical knowledge, concern for the future, tolerance, respect, marital fidelity, grace, true family values.... oh, I could go on and on.... would take any one of those qualities as tradeoffs to always agreeing with every policy decision. Our current president us a personal snd professional disgrace, not one redeeming quality as far as I can see. Candidates on either side who criticize Obama are desperate.
29
The amalgam of these various elements is in fact Senator Kamala Harris of California and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind. as a ticket.
Will the alchemists of the Democratic brain trust chase the pyrite of septuagenarian candidates (octogenarian executives) – a recipe for unalloyed electoral defeat – or fashion an alliance of coast+heartland, female+male, black&asian+white, straight+gay, centrist+progressive that reflects the highlights of the broadest range of voters?
The shiny gold of absolutism buried Republicans back in ’64.
4
@Gouverneur Morris
, judicial&legislative+executive
1
President Obama is not perfect but what a guy!! Do not criticize him. The present guy can’t hold a candle to him.
14
As an independent, like most of us are, it is very frustrating to have these two unacceptable choices as our political parties. They both belong to the oligarchy. True the Rs are depraved, immoral, greedy and ignorant, but the Ds are really not much better. It has taken the concerted efforts of both of them to get us where we are today. Of course trolls from both parties love their former Presidents, the rest of us are disgusted and resigned. Our last two, Bush Jr and Obama, were huge disappointments to say the least. War criminal Bush Jr. took us into two needless wars and presided over the second largest depression/recession in our history. Obama turned out to be a company man who gave a great speech, but was hardly a change agent and left Wall Street and the our massive and corrupt military industrial complex bigger than ever. The ACA was his crowning achievement, but he botched the rollout and it still may go down in flames. For most of us, our demise is clear. We realize both parties are hopeless. The question now is not if, but when. I am sure the Romans felt the same way towards the end of their days as well.
6
This is story with little legs but the Times just wont give up on it. How about reporting the news instead of trying to influence the news.
8
I don’t expect perfection from a president. Our system, built upon compromise, won’t allow it. What we should expect is a moral compass and incremental steps towards improvement. President Obama gave us that.
10
It really irritates me to see people up in the bleachers-you know-the ones who didn't get out of their parents basement to vote in the midterms. Obama was boxed in by his race by a vicious right wing. There was only so much he could do without being branded as "an angry black man" or "uppity". Obama was smart enough not to go for everything and get nothing.
9
Democrats need to consider if any of their present candidates for President has the competence, the popularity, the experience of statecraft as Secretary Hillary Clinton in 2016. Donald Trump today is a far more formidable adversary than the 2016 Republican Nominee. If Donald Trump of 2016 beat Secretary Hillary Clinton, what chance do the present crop of Democratic candidates have against Trump2.0 ?? The only hope for Democrats is if they close ranks & rally around their best bet in the National polls.
1
Closing your eyes to the truth doesn't make it any less true. Sure, Obama was intelligent, well-spoken, well-liked, even loved, but that doesn't mean he didn't make some major mistakes. And those mistakes contributed a lot to the election of someone as totally unfit for the job as Trump.
When the Crash of '08 occurred, Obama and the Dems had a chance to make a legacy-defining decision: rescue Main St. or Wall St. They chose the latter, depspite millions of Americans losing their homes, their pensions, their savings, their jobs, going bankrupt. Obama and the Dems saved the very people who caused the Crash: Wall St and the banksters! And when they had a chance to pass a Single Payer Health Care bill (aka Medicare For All), they chose to engage in preemptive compromise with the Republicans whose plan the ACA was based on, and not one Republican voted for it anyway!
Obama was a neo-liberal technocrat, out of touch with average Americans. He certainly wasn't alone in this as the Democratic Party had long embraced this ideology under Clinton's Third Way, but he was in a position to use his bully pulpit to fight for average people and he did not.
Now we're asked to "vote" on his legacy by supporting Biden. Sorry, that's a legacy that was wrong then, and even more wrong now. I won't criticize Obama the man and his decency and class, and he wasn't the worst President we've had by a long stretch - Trump has retired that title hopefully. But his record sure deserves it.
11
There is no feud. Except in the mind of the media.
Obama himself came out in 2018 and said Medicare for All was a good idea.
You can love Obama and still be disappointed at what he was not able to get done.
OBAMA himself would be disappointed at what he was unable to get done, mosyly because of McConnell.
Democrats who don't understand it is not personal, are so limited.
8
Criticizing Obama serves what purpose? I have been a democrat for a very long time. Yes ,not everything was solved,but Obama was there. Many who now criticize have been missing in action. Where was everyone during the Hillary debate in the '90's? I am tired of the AOC's & Bernie forgetting we can be a socialist government. CAN BE. But all of us agree that we are democratic republic that needs a consensus. Obama did a lot,especially with the consensus. Stop fighting ,we agree on the fundamentals. We are being endangered by diviseness on all parts. In the history of our nation,this is the most corrupt President we have now. Look forward not back . You are falling for the Trump divide & conquer.
4
He killed way too many people with a reckless drone policy.
I'm not a D. But I voted for him twice.
6
Pre-November 2020 is not the time for Dems to be critiquing Obama’s years – serves no purpose – post election win or lose that critique would be very wise.
3
Yesterday's hero; todays bum. Hypocrisy and the lust for power rule the day. I was initially lukewarm about the ACA but in hindsight it was a successful attempt to move the ball forward. " Medicare for all" will never see the light of day and will be an albatross around Warren's neck. If I were unthinking I would ask if latent racism is in play here. No, it's not racist, just stupid.
4
I greatly admire Obama but he was not God. You certainly can criticize him in certain areas.
However, sandwiched between an admitted war criminal like Bush 2 and an ego maniac, pathological liar, bigot like Trump (and those are some of the nicer things I can say about him), Obama looks like a God.
15
@Paul, they are all war criminals, using the CIA and NSA as an extension of the Pentagon, since Congress refuses to have the courage to declare war against the multiple countries the US constantly invades. . . Obama continued the Bush-Cheney "Forever" Wars his entire 8 years, ending his presidency with shameful distinction of longest war-time president in US history. . . Obama expanded the wars into Libya, Syria, Yemen. . . CIA gun-running to CIA-funded and trained "rebels" in Syria because Congress is so desperate for their Cadillac benefits and re-election, and know they will lose re-election if they vote in favor of these wars against countries that never attacked US soil, so Congress happily out-sources to the Executive Branch war criminals a la Bush, Cheney, Obama, etc.
3
@GRH-Thank you for you reply. The definition of a war criminal like beauty (or in this case ugliness) is in the eyes of the beholder. Many people thought Lincoln was a war criminal agreeing with Sherman's march to the sea although the Civil War had no atrocities like rape, killings, genocide etc. It was probably the cleanest war ever fought because of Lincoln.
Yes, there was plenty of sub rosa war crimes committed in America history by a. myriad of people but Bush 2 was the only American leader to admit it as official policy. That is why I say he is an admitted war criminal. It is rare for a leader in the world in history to admit they are a war criminal.
2
Obama now knows how Bill Clinton must have felt as he took shots at Bubba's record. Too funny.
2
That's right. We have a criminal enterprise in the office that needs to be voted out.
Let's concentrate on getting that done and stop with these stupid diversions.
Is the NYT going to pull out Hilary's emails again? That's the track you are on.
5
The O-man was a master @ telling people what they wanted to hear - and doing the polar opposite. Bailing out the big banks, abandoning those less fortunate, NDAA (where any one of us can legally be snatched by an arm of the military and be held indefinitely).
His bookends are the Shrub and Trumpelstiltskein - in comparison he looks 'good' but he hardly stood for the common people in this country. His 'legacy' is of ever increasing wealth.
6
This presents a false choice, where one must either abandon or ignore who Obama was, what he believed America could be, and what he tried to accomplish, and simply look to the future as if whatever he did is now irrelevant, (or worse, wrong), or you must pretend that nothing has changed since Obama was president and do exactly the same things he did over a decade ago, when the America he was president of, and the world he dealt with, was fundamentally different, and is now gone.
The normal thing to do would be to regard Obama for the truly fine president he was, and seek to build on his accomplishments, while also trying to learn from his mistakes. Doing so, however, would require at least some humility, which sadly is totally lacking in political discourse on the left, which refuses to accept that hindsight is 20/20.
All politicians in office should seriously hope that in a decade and more from now they will be seen to be as well-meaning and decent as Obama was, yet invariably as being human, they will also need to be both incredibly wise and very lucky to only have been mistaken as few times as Obama was.
I was constantly aware that President Obama was far from perfect the entire time he was in office, and at times I deeply disagreed with him, yet every single day I miss President Obama and the fundamental decency he possessed. I won't ever apologize for it, and I'm most certainly not alone.
10
It is difficult to believe that older voters support Joe Biden because of his affiliation with Obama. Obama, who presided over the loss of over 1,000 national, democratic office holders during his tenure and who was going to make a grand bargain with the republicans, behind closed doors, on cutting Social Security. Give me a break.
8
There is certainly much to do this time around, but dont lose sight of the great good Obama did. He put all his chips on the ACA, which cost him severely in the midterms, and gave us the Republican dominated Congress that Trump has benefitted from. The big question is whether moving effectively on important issues like income inequality means that you will get clocked by the pendulum swinging back as it does so often in our politics.Sanders and Warren need to be careful fixing the major issues of our time that they do not give ammunition to the Republicans and Republican lights to attack them. Sad to see Biden already engaged in this.
Obama is a good man, but unlike the GOP, the Democrats don't canonize their leaders.
Good governance necessitates a full accounting of past achievements AND failures.
If 2016 proved anything, it's that the Democrats need to work harder for the working and middle class.
1
I'd like the Democratic candidates to totally avoid saying *anything* about other Democrats unless it is praise. I just want to hear what they plan to do or not do.
No need to criticize any other Democrat in order to do this.
7
@polymath
My sentiments exactly! I watched the third debate (but not the first two) and said exactly what have said here.
Stay focused Democrats.
The next election is not about Obama, Green Deals, or any other policies about future dreaminess.
It is about getting Trump out.
To get him out, talk about what people want to hear. What is the plan to put money in their pockets, roofs over their heads, food on the tables, and a secure livelihood.
If Trump is running against ways to fight climate change, Obama’s perceived mistakes, or any other thing besides common sense, Trump will win.
2
Just now a montage of photos of PBO ran while hie remarks today were discussed- I immediately felt myself smile and realized that among the many things I miss about him is the calm he brought to my life. For eight years I got up and turned on the tv without a feeling of dread about what the President had sone or said or tweeted overnight.I never knew how lucky I and hundreds of millions of Americans were to have him in the White House
4
I would have liked Obama to have been more aggressive in punishing those who got us into the finanancial collapse. He decided to deal with emergency situations and, all in all, he left the country very well off economically. At this point, to regret steps not taken to the point of criticizing Obama to make a political splash is both invidious and counter-productive. It is one thing for a dispassionate historian with more perspective than 2.5 years to evaluate an administration, and quite another to quibble over might-have-beens to get a headline.
1
The comments on this piece -- which seems to be running as a "response" to Farhad Manjoo's Op-Ed, but that's another matter -- are deeply disturbing, at least at the 117-and-holding mark
The majority defend Obama, repeating the "It wasn't his fault" mantra
A small but vicious minority have the nerve to blame him for the rampant racism that the edge of the RPB party -- which has now become the dominant tendency -- engaged in from the moment he was elected
The idea he was a promoter of divisiveness and identity politics is ludicrous and obviously made in total bad faith
In fact, as an even smaller minority point out, the problem with Obama was precisely that he persisted in the fantasy of a bi-partisan "One America", at a time it was painfully obvious there was no such thing
Personally, he and his family were indeed role models, especially when compared with the Trump mafiosi
Unfortunately, as thinkers from Machiavelli to Weber have observed, personal rectitude is not necessarily an element of political success
Obama came to power at a moment the US and world wanted a real change from the nightmare of the Rove / Cheney regime
He could have been a 21st century FDR
And the fact he was black would actually have helped protect someone with that kind of bold and unifying vision
Unfortunately, from the moment he made Larry Summers and Tim Geithner his first appointments,
it was clear his main priority was protecting the big banks from the people -- and NOT vice-versa
5
The writer is using selective interviews to draw some general conclusions that don't necessarily represent the views of actual Democratic voters. It's not responsible journalism -- it's just a bunch of anecdotes. How can the writer know that liberal consensus-building with moderates is now out of vogue? That's an opinion, not good journalism. Meanwhile, progressives are kidding themselves if they think there are enough leftist voters out there to put Warren in the White House. Obama reached out and got moderate voters. No Democrat will ever get elected if they don't build consensus with moderates. When will the Democrats learn this?
3
I'm amused that trolls come out of the woodwork for another "opportunity" to bash Obama.
You lost two elections and America has hardly been remade.
However, if you decide to focus in on what's happening today, you may notice a serious slide.
As for Romney, that's absurd, but not enough to be funny.
It's so obvious that by attacking President Obama, the candidates are really attacking Biden. Here's the message for ALL the Democratic candidates--don't wound your own so that the Evil One can prevail. The SUPREME goal for this election is to get rid of Trump.
3
There’s nothing in the future to look at how about we solve the riddle of what’s happening now? Does President Obama have any guidance Now? Why wouldn’t he?
I voted twice for Obama.
His post Presidency actions are to hang out with the very rich, from Geffen's Yacht, to Cluny's Villa and to purchase, in addition to his multi million home in Washington, 15 million dollar beach mansion on Cape Cod.
It is becoming frustratingly clear that his goal, all along, was to join the Uber Rich. I begin to suspect that this was the real reason he did not prosecute malfeasance by Wall Street bankers.
He is no Jimmy Carter. Who went back to teach Sunday School
6
They like to have it both ways.
Look, the man saved our economy and got bin Laden. He never demeaned or insulted anyone, behaved like a good man with manners and integrity........We slept at night and had weekends not eaten up with endless either vapid or nasty tweets.
Here is our sad moment..I don't see one Democrat who gives me the same confidence and feeling of safety that he did...And, of course, the current leader in chief has shown himself to be both erratic and downright mean.
I keep waiting for that grand moment when I feel secure, respected and frankly, not being spin just for my vote with promises that cannot be kept.
We must move forward and I know we will. But, Democrats, there is a level of mediocrity that you continue to parade before us that is not awe inspiring, comforting, or even fun. Get a grip..Americans need hope, not bickering and endless rants about who said or did what.
You all need to be locked in a room to watch an Obama press conference or the lighting of the Christmas tree or pardon of the turkey..Maybe the ceremony with the Bush family for the unveiling of their portraits.......
Simple, dignified, pleasant and reassuring. LEARN. Right now it is like watching a convention of funeral directors whining over cremation harming their business.
3
Obama should have discovered the cure for cancer, invented a perpetual motion machine, prevented mass shootings, ended all wars and turned water into wine. That's what he was elected to do. /sarc
I'm happy he staved off a depression, insured millions of citizens and maintained his class in the face of classless personal attacks against himself and his family. He left the country better than he found it, which should be the primary litmus test for a presidential administration.
8
The Democrat candidates should best steer clear of the disaster that is the Obama legacy because it's going to get real bad real soon. When the illegal spying on the Trump campaign investigations come to a head this month and McCabe and Comey are charged in October everyone will know that President Obama abused his power, and Joe was right there with him.
Besides that, Joe was losing his teeth on stage two debates ago. while gaffing. That's just one reason why the Dems have switched over to Elizabeth. (Big crowds in NY and a momentum building for Betty to be the one)
The vast coup against Trump that involved the CIA, FBI, other countries, State Department, The White House, was an attempt to steal the votes of American voters and elect a President that the deep state wanted not who the American people wanted. Regardless of your political persuasion, you must object to this or either side can abuse these same powers and take the vote away from American citizens.
2
I find the Democrats’ criticisms of Obama quite astounding. There are three Democrats since Roosevelt who got 51 percent plus of the vote. Two of them are named Obama. This is just the height of ingratitude.
4
What Obama did or didn’t do pales in light of what has happened since January 20, 2017.
3
I can't help thinking this "Obama issue" is a result of J. Biden's run. It was about attacking Obama's legacy to discredit Biden. Guilt by association, maybe. IF Biden were elected would he be an Obama clone? Not necessarily.
What we do know IS we can do a lot worse.
1
“He made mistakes but he’s honest, he really cared — you could just tell he’s a good person.” — Maureen Conboy
To that I would only add: He wasn't a fighter.
5
Loved Obama's intelligence, temperament, grace and class but he needed to be Machiavelli not Alinsky.
Ironically, his failure was his "hope" that the opposition was interested in governing with him. When it became clear they had no intention of ever behaving like the loyal opposition he should have gone to war against them.
It would have at least required building a robust Democratic Party organization to fend off this pretender we now have in the WH.
He should have done it the "Chicago way".
2
I find it so comical but not at all surprising that the NYT would cite the views of mostly unnamed "party leaders" without checking on the opinions of Barack Obama that count most: rank and file Democrats and independents. My sense is that the further his administration recedes into the sunset, the more voters who voted for Obama in his first as well as second terms are having their doubts about his record of accomplishments; failure to engage effectively with Congress--including members of his own party; lack of access to and transparency with much of the press; and his general inability to rally much of the country's citizenry, most especially away from the East and West coasts, behind his agenda, values and priorities. The time is long overdue for the NYT to stop serving as the all too predictable house organ as well as mouthpiece for Democratic party leaders. Nancy Pelosi et al have spent the past few decades with their heads buried in the sand and their hands out collecting buckets of cash from the highest bidders, siphoning at least some of it off to line their own pockets.
3
And let’s have one cheer for Fox News and Alt-Right radio for extending the Obama presidency ad infinitum.
Maybe all future hurricanes, storms, droughts and all American disasters can be called Obamastorm or Obamashooting.
The current situation politically is absolutely vile.
One elected man of color elected president and the wheels fall off America.
As they say on the suburban commuter trains - outstanding!
2
Obama’s current silence is the enemy. Big houses, hanging out with Beyoncé and Branson, he’s a grifter too. What legacy?
5
Becky - Does Obama need to save the DNC and the party- where’s Hillary?
Come on... let him go...
Only the GOP can summon the ghosts—- a
Reagan - a Bush - a Nixon.
Fox News can’t run a segment without “Obama” in the talk.
1
I always thought Obamacare was really Hillarycare anyway.
1
The Dems are playing right into the GOP's hands even bringing up Obamas name. Obama was a great President and will be well remembered but using him against each other is just stupid. The enemy sits in the White House. Focus on Trump and the Republican Party. They must be crushed. The circular firing squad that the Dems seem to like is a Trump reelection gift.
3
Obama’s legacy is forever tarnished by his failure to support the legitimate democratic aspirations of Ukraine against the schemes of the Kremlin. Donald trump is the direct consequence of Obama’s failure to take a stand for good over evil in Ukraine.
The dude has class. Enough said.
2
Let’s face it. Considering the present White House and administration, Barack Obama is a saint....
4
Well, of course. I mean, duh! Liberal voters ALWAYS look to the future. That's why people refer to them as - wait for it! - Progressives. Right wingers, on the other hand, characteristically, are mired in Leave it to Beaver re-runs, and are happy to be there.
If I don't want to hear criticism of the Obama presidency, it isn't because I think it was beyond reproach, it is because he isn't the president now. What matters to me as a voter is what the candidates propose to do about the problems we have now, those that predate and those that come from the current president.
5
Any Democrat running for the party's nomination would be wise to tout Obama's legacy rather than disparage it. For example, It make's no sense to argue for repeal of Obamacare and replacing it with "medicare for all." We need to build upon Obama's legacy by improving Obamacare. Add a public option and let Americans decide whether to enroll in private health insurance or the public option. If Biden is the only Democrat running for the nomination to understand that Obama has paved the way toward affordable health care for all Americans, then he has my vote.
9
Couldn’t disagree more. And I’m a voting Democrat.
I don't think it's necessary to pick apart every aspect of Obama's presidency. But it's certainly useful to see what worked and what didn't, in order to devise future strategies. Personally, I think he mostly did the best he could on health care with the information he had at the time, and the situation he faced with an obstructionist Congress. But that doesn't mean the Dems shouldn't now do something more ambitious if they win big in 2020, recognizing they will get zero cooperation from any Republicans. And hopefully the Democratic Party has now realized they can't look out for the best interests of the majority of Americans without upsetting Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and the Chamber of Commerce.
106
@crankyoldman
In order to get Medicare for all thru the Congress, we will need a "super majority" in the Senate (I am assuming we keep the House) and the Senate Democrats will have to be willing to vote for Medicare for all, all of them! There are Democrat senators now who will not vote for Medicare for all. Which means that Sanders and Warren are promising something that they must know is for all practical purposes unachievable.
1
Learn to count, fan of the tarnished, he had 59 votes for about seven months, 60 for maybe three months, and then.
Then, you lot began to shriek.
4
It is not being disloyal to raise questions for thought and discussion about President Obama. I am a liberal.
His presidency was one of missed opportunities. He had the country's reins for two years. He was the only democratic president since FDR to win majorities in both the popular vote and electoral college (Jimmy Carter got 50.1% of the popular vote in 1976 and the 1964 LBJ election was unique following the JFK assassination).
He could have codified environmental changes in law rather than executive orders (that are now being discarded). He could have codified anti-discrimination laws against LGBTQ folks. He could have granted amnesty to all immigrants without papers who have not committed a felony. Think of the list of things he could have done.
Instead, he came from the conservative wing of the democratic party and so wanted to retain the status quo.
What a shame.
86
@Greg smith
Woulda, coulda. What a waste of energy.
4
@Greg smith He didn't fight hard for anything. Middle-Of-The-Road was OK for him.
We cannot let the Democratic Party sink back into that ever again.
Obama just did not try hard enough, especially on the Garland nomination. Now, look where we are.
19
@Greg smith
He granted amnesty to the so-called Dreamers as an election-year ploy in 2012. I've never looked at the same since then.
Yes, he could have done something for amnesty via legislative action, but he waited until months before his reelection and issued an executive order instead to keep it fresh in people's minds as they took to the voting booths.
The optics disgusted me.
7
Obama was as good a president as we've had in at least the last 50 years. He wasn't perfect--no one is. But more importantly, answers that were correct, and compromises that had to be made, when he was president may no longer apply.
The past is the past--we cannot go back to it.
All of that being said, criticism of Mr. Obama has become a racist dog whistle for the right wing, Democrats are wise avoid such criticism and to refute our Republican friends when they engage in such coded messaging.
166
If criticism of former President Obama comes from fellow Democrats is it still a racist dog whistle?
5
Our Republican friends... how drolly Senatorial of you.
4
Until Trump, being a decent and honorable person was a necessary condition to be President. But it never was a sufficient condition. A president has to get things done. Pres Obama had the first in excess, but he was woefully short on the second, regardless of Republican tactics. Now his VP reminisces romantically of the Obama-Biden times and wants to go back. No, sir!
Warren, Sanders and the rest may not accomplish anything more than Pres Obama did, but I am confident they will fight.
55
@JB....Sorry, but the REALITY is that the Democrats will be lucky to pull even in the Senate and to get anything passed means having trade offs...like it or not. Sanders and the far Left might have ideals that seem like great ideas, but they mean nothing if they can't possibly be put into existence. We had the far left fighting in the last election, but all they did was damage Hillary to the point that she lost to a monster. How do you like the "progress" they fought for now?
3
@JB, "decent and honorable" like LBJ or Nixon. . .?
2
@Steve Dumford Hillary Clinton ran a totally pathetic campaign and the media elected Donald Trump.
4
Bad mouthing and criticizing President Obama is the way to lose voters like myself. Obama came on board when this country was in shambles. And of course, anything he wanted to do, the republicans, mainly, Mitch McConnell, made sure to sabotage it, not because it was a bad idea, but because he Hated Obama and his accomplishments. Time will tell us what a great President Obama was.
14
President Barack Obama inherited an economy teetering on a Depression and when he left he handed off a gift of an economy that was vastly improved and continuing a trajectory of improvement. President Obama was a voice of hope for US and the world during great economic uncertainty. He was a healing balm in a post 9/11 era. He was gracious and diplomatic with our allies, strengthening these critically important relationships. An unintended consequence of Obama's presidency was the emboldened overt racism it provoked. While this continues to be unsettling and even frightening with a racist in the current White House, the issue of racism could not be substantively addressed or mitigated until its ugliness was stripped of coded speech and behavior and truly laid bare. This continues to be very much a work in progress.
Hindsight is always 20/20 but absolutely no one is perfect or without regrets. While not certain, Barack Obama's race might have very well restrained some of his inclinations for boldness or audacity, instead favoring safer policy during his presidency while trying to navigate the tricky issue of race in politics. His initial desire to work toward consensus with Republicans, while perceived as maddeningly naive and a non-starter for many progressive voters, was and remains an admirable dream, at least in a perfect world.
124
@Jeff
I believe the Fed and Ben Bernanke dealt with the Great Recession. Obama had nothing to do with it and I highly doubt a Yale law student would know enough about economics to be the driving force behind stabilizing a teetering national economy.
3
@Jeff
Really excellent comment. Thank you.
11
@Jason W All the government helped - even the ACA helped. The bailout bill helped (though it was too small). So yes, I think Obama was in part responsible for the economic expansion.
I believe he was handed a poisoned chalice.
3
Greatest president since John Kennedy. If you factor in character, Barack Obama is the greatest president in my lifetime of more than 60 years. The only hitch was the Affordable Care Act. Yes the roll-out was flawed without a doubt. The problem I have was with the time it for Congress to pass the ACA. With a super majority in the Senate and a solid majority in the House, Democrats should have crammed it down the Repubican's throats. It took two whole years to pass this legislation which literally saved my life and several other people I know too. Had it been the Congress during the Great Depression of the 1930s, FDR and the Democrats would have passed the law in less than 3 months. By the time the ACA did pass, the political tide had turned and the Tea Party short-circuited the legislative process because of jealousy, racism and several other factors which I will not go into on this blog.
123
@Jean W. Griffith
Carter beats Obama by far if you want to talk about personal character. Carter certainly didn't jet off with billionaires after leaving office or sign a $70 million Netflix on no other talent than his name.
The adulterous lecher that was JFK is setting a pretty low bar.
15
Kennedy wasn’t a good president. Johnson was. Kennedy got murdered and got the halo. Obama was an ok president who broke thru the ceiling. Not much else. And his silence now is disgusting. Grifter on steroids.
12
@Becky Beech
Johnson deserves the credit for political bravery and principle on civil rights, which he pushed through Congress knowing that it would hurt his party in the future. As we see.
18
There's no controversy: Obama was the most successful Republican president since at least Reagan, even more so than Clinton.
Democrats would like to have a Democratic president, like an FDR or LBJ, is all.
Next.
5
The obvious problem for the Lefties is that they want to "build on" a house of cards. Not a single one of them has a clue what their "big ideas" will actually cost and how to pay for them. Even worse, not one of them even mentions the federal deficit, let along propose an adult plan to dig us out. They will leapfrog themselves right into a replay of Nixon v McGovern, and then point fingers until Trump returns to Reality TV and FOX news permanently. so sad.
2
I think the extreme dissonance between the incredible charisma of Obama and what he actually did is his most relevant legacy.
It left me completely disenfranchised, and this is a large part of the reason why Trump was able to win. Trump didn't win - Clinton lost. Between 2008 and 2016 the voting age population increased by more than 20 million. And the clear majority of those were democrat leaning demographics.
In 2008 Obama received 69.5 million votes.
In 2012 Obama received 65.9 million votes.
In 2016 Clinton received 65.8 million votes.
Widespread disenfranchisement is a critical and unspoken issue. I'd like something very simple in a president - somebody who doesn't get drawn into the pointless mudslinging and identity politics but and simply says what he's going to do, and does what he says he's going to do. And is honest about what that is.
Obama let bankers and wallstreet nearly destroy our economy and get off scot-free. He then followed this up by going and giving $400k talks to these same groups after he left the presidency.
His 'landmark environmental treaty' with China amounted to little more than giving China a free pass to increase their pollution levels as much as they want until 2030, when they were then supposed to do something.
He appointed a Monsanto vice president and lobbyist to a newly created seat heading up foods at the FDA.
He took his nobel prize and then bombed more nations than anybody since WW2.
etc
Sugary words with vile behaviors.
7
So, if I understand this article correctly: Democratic voters are hungering for a White Male or Female for President who will do what?
I came of age during Eiesemhower's 1st term. Every President and this goes back to Truman, FDR, are seen as imperfect in hindsight because?....
Himan Nature is Fickle.
2
I'd like to make these points:
-Many Democrats complain that "Obama campaigned one way and ran the country another way."
They need to remember what our country looked like on January 20, 2009 and where 8 years of George Bush left us: up to our necks in foreign wars, hemorrhaging jobs, individual household in an economic free-fall, and the Federal coffers ransacked. These problems co-opted Obama's Presidency.
-Some Democrats decry how little he accomplished.
Because Senator McConnell and Tea Party/Young Guns in the House, tied Congress in knots, for most of his Presidency Obama was forced to govern through Executive actions that circumvented Congress. This was the political reality: a concentrated and concerted effort to defeat Obama even when it hurt the Country.
-Obama was too centrist
We are over-indulging ourselves in dreams of what could have been accomplished. You can only accomplish great things if you have great support for it in the House and Senate.
-In fact it was WE Democrats who let Obama down.
A "Legacy" has to be secured and defended. Did we do that?
Did we do that when we let Republicans chip away at Obamacare?
Did we do that when we let Merrick Garland swing in the wind? Did we do that when we stayed home instead of voting in 2016?
10
@Miss Informed . You are so right. Of course the Republicans did everything possible to thwart Obama in everything--our country's welfare didn't matter to them. Almost as bad, we Dems (Congressional members and voters) did not support Obama nearly enough. We should have been marching in the streets to protest McConnells's egregious behavior re Garland.
No, we didn't defend Obama or Democracy.
5
@Miss Informed This should be a TIMES pick! Great stuff Miss Informed!
5
The Democratic Party is dominated by very angry people who do not want to offer compromises in order to govern for all. They, like the Republicans, want power to make all dance to their tune. It’s about fixing problems and doing so in a way that annoys the Republicans, payback. Obama tried to govern for all, and annoyed a lot of Democrats by doing so. If they want to win, they had better get over their resentments.
2
Those endorsing moderation and fears of extremist progressive liberals are those who have something to lose if the status quo changes. They are probably so fortunate to begin with they will do just as well with another 4 of Trump. For the multitudes of us who yearn for better times for those who have been left behind, " we are not throwing away our shot!"
3
It was Obama’s frequent and failed attempts at appeasing the Republicans that turned me off to him, and hearing Biden!s Pollyanaish hopes for bipartisanship tells me that’s Biden presidency would be a disaster.
2
And we don't want to hear about trillion dollar plans either. Just take us back slightly left of center.
1
Where’s the center?
I agree, there's no need sit around and argue about the Obama administration. This ain't Bernie vs. Hillary.
2
The problem with America is that she is one of the wealthiest countries in the world but the social structure continues to lead to a widening abyss between those who have vs have nots. This is a shame because America is one of the wealthiest countries but justice is not embedded into the system: there are too many poor people in America and the American system does not really care about them, i.e. look at your universities. I believe Obama is a good man, but his politics did not manage to address the social gap and this is a shame.
1
"As though Mr. Obama were under siege"?
President Obama and his legacy are under siege from a group of leftists who only run as Democrats but who have no regard for liberal democracy. They're Outrage Culture and Cultural Revolution style insurrectionists who wish to destroy the Democratic Party. To do that, they must destroy Obama's legacy.
If any doubt that Corbin Trent's Justice Democrats want to destroy the Democratic Party, Waleed Shahid, the group's spokesman, explicitly promised they'd foment this war. The major front in the war is delegitimizing everything Obama believed in.
As Thomas B. Edsall detailed in the Times, Justice Democrats are by far the smallest, whitest and most affluent part of the Democratic Party. They forcefully set an agenda most Democrats, especially blacks and Latinos who are the most moderate Democrats, don't agree with.
When left-wing Democratic presidential candidates attack President Obama it's a variation of a Justice Democrat talking point Ilhan Omar made months ago in saying President Obama was the same as Trump except he got away with "murder" because he was "pretty", and a smooth talker.
This is a movement of wealthy white zealots. Obama is under siege because destroying him is central to destroying the Democratic Party. Justice Democrats seek to appropriate the Democratic Party name; definitely not its liberal democracy principles.
For these zealots, destroying the Party as we know it is far more important than defeating Trump.
4
Unfortunately, as it turned out and what we see today in American politics, when Obama promised "hope and change", that promise means little when your biggest campaign contributor was "Goldman Sachs".
2
I am a Republican.
But as an American - I was mighty proud that only this country can elect a black man as a POTUS.
I think much more of Americans than Mr. Obama.
Other than him being black - and he did not leave with any baggage or scandals like his Democrat predecessor - if that's definition of a successful POTUS - well, it's not my definition.
Until he was impeached and Obama was elected - Clinton was thought to be the best black POTUS.
His policies including welfare reform, working with Republicans to have an actual budget surplus - were policies worth admiring.
And even with scandals, Clinton with his global initiative attempted to make a difference. Nothing so far with Mr. Obama except hefty book deals and movie deals.
Mr. Obama squandered will and generosity of Republicans by calling them his enemies. He refused to work with well meaning congressional Republicans over health care.
Sen. McCain who eventually saved Obamacare with his thumb down was shut up in public "John, I won."
A Republican POTUS who emancipated blacks and it was Republican senators who helped LBJ pass civil rights among others - Republicans are hardly his enemies.
But he played race politics and for which few Republicans will remember him fondly.
2
@Neil Not surprisingly this is a typically obtuse comment from a self declared Republican eager to give us advice. Some parts are particularly galling e.g. "Mr. Obama squandered will and generosity of Republicans by calling them his enemies." Only a true believer could say something like that. No need to defend Obama, the unrelenting hostility he faced from day 1 despite his attempts to interact with Republicans will never be forgotten by Democrats. Obama did go all in on the ACA, and that may have given us the first real progress for middle and lower class since Roosevelt, but it also probably lead to the defeat of Clinton. It took many beneficiaries quite a while to recognize how the ACA helped them, but 2018 suggested that it may have finally clicked. Our future president (hopefully Warren) needs to keep that in mind. However helpful your policies are (minimum wage, college loans, labor law reform) they will be villified and many voters will believe the attacks. You may find out that it takes 10 years for the good effects to be recognized and your career is long gone by then.
2
The single best thing Obama did was sign into law 99% of the GWB tax cuts. Even he understands the power of low taxes. Now, if he could just explain that to socialists Bernie and Liz Warren.
Biden over Warren any day.
1
When you are on a trip Andy you are as hopelessly lost as this country is right now, many times the best thing you can do is to go back to the last place where you were NOT lost, before continuing forward. With President Obama, this country was not lost. I think that Joe Biden represents the last remnants of that time when this country was NOT lost.
I think he is the right person to put this country back on the right track. After he has done that, THEN we can move forward ...in the correct direction this time.
1
The Bernie people need to stop this. Obama is a good man and was a good president. Did he or could he have made every person in the world happy? No, but he clearly governed with grace and humility that those who attack him seem to completely lack.
These desperate attacks on Obama underline the need for Bernie to drop out. I was with him in 2016, and I have now come to regret it. Him staying in the race is blocking Warren from ending this divisive primary early. It is his ego that has enabled Donald trump to consolidate his position as favorite going into 2020.
He already stopped one woman from becoming president. Is he really willing to do it to another. Forget his legacy as being a progressive. The longer he stays in, the more likely his legacy will become the man who denied to liberal women the chance at being president purely because he was too arrogant and selfish to see that there is a better person for this moment.
At a certain point using ‘the people’ as ur cudgel to promote ur own selfish ends becomes tiresome, self-righteous and damaging to the cause u proclaim to represent. We are at that point. He should suspend his campaign and let Warren take the banner and continue the fight that she was made for.
He has no path, she does. Now is the time for humility. This is his legacy defining moment. My respect and the respect of those who once powered his movement is now officially waning. End this divisiveness.
Obama is everything good that Bernie is not
3
@nickgregor Totally agree. More people need to get on board with you nickgregor
1
Obama was one of the most capable politicians in the last 30-40 years.
His short comings had more to do with the Party that was supposed to staff his cabinet (too many Goldman Sachs alum, people that voted for the Iraq War) and the congress that was supposed to support him. It is indicative that while his popularity was solid, the Democratic Party went down the drain.
4
Australia's PM Morrison is currently in Washington and we'll soon hear what an obsequious & grovelling ally of the US we are. Nonetheless among ordinary Australians Obama was widely respected. I would guess it's somewhere around 80%. Trump however is widely despised. I would doubt he'd get a 5% approval rating in this country.
2
Democratic presidential candidates should understand that, debating the relative merits and demerits of Obama’s Presidency, is absolutely pointless at this stage of the campaign.
Instead they should concentrate on the “Clear and Present Danger” associated with Trump’s presidency and it’s adverse impact on our country. Trump is a solipsistic and narcissistic “Shock Jock” provocateur who is masquerading as our President. Therefore, Trump is a malignant growth of our political system.
The democratic candidates should also focus on formulating commonsensical and cohesive legislative agenda for ALL Americans - not just liberals and progressives. They should also stop infighting.
If the Democrats can’t unite in 2020 - we are going to have another disastrous term of Trump’s presidency. It’s as scary as that. Oy Vey!
2
Greatest President of my lifetime. Maybe ever.
18
Not unlike the French Revolution,
those not quite in power have no problem
denouncing those who have power.
I thought Obama favored Wall Street over the
Middle Class.
We remained in the Wars he inherited.
He did little for African Americans.
And his net worth now puts him in the 1 %.
Why consider him a hero ?
24
Oh, little things. Like knowing what I’m talking about, and not actually needing a hero, just a real good President.
Sure would come in handy about know, wouldn’t you say?
@Robert
Why now, what is he going to do ?
If Iran wants war it will keep attacking
Saudi Arabia and ship in the gulf.
Obama deported more people than Trump.
The Economy is better for now, then under
Obama.
Obama let 15,000,000 people lose their
homes while enriching Wall Street.
1
See the part where I mentioned knowing what I’m talking about?
As many people believe, Obama was a normal president. Perhaps his most lasting legacy will be his race. That bothered many white voters, who voted for Trump and helped to make him president.
6
Shame on you! This is click-bait! YES WE CAN respect his legacy and improve on it by having a single payer. Why do you phrase having a single payer as"destroying" anything? "Affordable Health Care" is a good start but is still far from being perfect or really affordable.
I am currently paying about $480/ month for my insurance through the exchange. That might not seem much for some. people but with an income that just averaged. about $2,000/ month. After rent, utilities, gas, car insurance, , co pays for meds, visits etc. (And oh yeahhhh... I still have to eat! ) You do the math. And that was the "cheapest "option available on the Washington State Exchange.
why don't you just be honest and say that this is just another facet of the narrative that you are pushing about Biden vs. everyone else, specifically Bernie and Warren?
5
“Part of me says it’s time for something really new and different,” Ms. Chase said, “but then the other part says we’ve got to have somebody who can beat Trump.”
>>>
Is there any actual evidence "something really new and different" can't describe the very candidate that "can beat Trump?"
I haven't seen anything remotely convincing to support this idea that Biden has any better chance than any of the other candidates, other than DC political types repeating one another's claims in the hopes it becomes "conventional wisdom." I remember how well that worked in 2016.
7
Mr. Obama ruled as a nominal Democrat despite campaigning as a Progressive. That is a problem and the issue is germane to the 2020 cycle.
Also, there is no "front runner" nobody has voted and few are yet paying attention. After February you can start thinking about the term and it will not be Joe Biden.
5
I don’t want to hear it either! The HUD Secretary does serve at the pleasure of the President. And though technically the Vice President does not, he may as well. Biden should be proud of his work with Obama, he lent invaluable advice in a very successful Presidency, and at a crucial time when a recession might have been far more destructive. Nitpicking by Castro just seems mean and petty.
4
He was a true statesman. Even if you didn't agree with him, it seemed like he had class. I thought his greatest achievement was the Affordable Care Act. Sadly, his educational policies were awful. It was like having eight more years of George W decimating public schools and schilling for corporate charters/high-stakes testing companies.
7
Taking in millions of dollars after ones presidency calls into question ones values and orinoples
1
@Moses Cat Each President has written books and been paid for attending gatherings. Obama is certainly worth it.
I want to hear it. Obama's tendencies to appease the GOP helped lay the groundwork for the mess we're in today. What's the point of having intellect if we don't use it to analyze the past and make better choices going forward?
7
Domestically, the legacy is income inequality, well documented by data previously published in the NYT. Obama's Fed initiated a round of massive public support for Wall Street, at the expense of the middle classes and seniors. The legacy is embraced by wealthy investors, and continues under Trump.
8
Mr. Obama did an amazing and wonderful job as president. His accomplishments included bailing out the financial industry while many had their homes foreclosed upon, keeping the U.S. in a permanent state of war after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, not prosecuting those who tortured others while Bush was president, and doing little, if anything, to alleviate the hardships faced by those who are homeless or living in poverty while wealth inequality increased. And then there are his efforts to modernize our nuclear arsenal.
12
Don't let revisionists rewrite Obama's presidency. The most important lesson is this: Obama was and is the most progressive, intelligent, idealistic, and wise American president this country has ever had. It is the structure of American politics, economy, and society that limited his progressive political agenda. Obama was a president and not a king--American presidency is confined by law and tradition, entrenched and insurgent interests, historical timing and unforeseen developments. For those of us who have paid attention, the Obama presidency was a great lesson on limits of political power and the profound complexity of where those limits come from: they include the clownish declaration of Mitch McConnell, the horrible candidacy of Martha Coakley, meltdown of the economy, Henry Louis Gates losing his keys, Hillary Clinton constantly angling for her turn, and the desire to do right by children of undocumented immigrants. In other words, everything from deeply ingrained social biases, to party politics, to random stuff that just happens. For better or worse, Obama brought as much progressive change as the system and the circumstances allowed. If you think that this wasn't all that impressive, you haven't been paying attention for the past two and a half years.
13
@UC Graduate, very thoughtful comment, analyzing "full-spectrum." That said, there are areas where the American presidency has great power and control, nearly unilateral control as Commander-in-Chief, for example, and Obama chose to betray the spirit of his 2008 campaign and continue the "Forever" wars his entire 8 years, ending his presidency with shameful distinction of longest wartime president in US history. . . not to continue the abuse of the CIA as an undeclared extension of the Pentagon because of Obama's refusal to stand up to the excesses of the national security state and military-industrial complex. These were actions within his control in the Executive Branch and did not require Congressional approval, or a Democratic Senator in Massachusetts, after Ted Kennedy's death, etc. . . We were paying attention, close attention, and Obama failed, and takes no small role in helping, unfortunately, deliver the nation to Trump. . .
3
Hi love the class and heart and integrity of Obama. However, he made serious mistakes.
He didn’t do what Trump is doing so well now; continuously rallying his base.
He left Iraq instead of building a nation and securing our interests: creating a terrible vacuum of power that our enemies have occupied.
1
It’s only been 2 1/2 years but it seems like a lifetime ago that Obama was President. While I was never crazy about him, I appreciate his decency, caring and commitment to fairness now more than ever
9
Regrettably, President Obama didn’t reestablished FDR era financial services regulations, eliminated by Democrat Bill Clinton and his merry band of opportunists, nor placed any of the “opportunist” crooks who crashed the economy in jail. With a weak economic recovery and the middle class in crutches, it’s no wonder that Trump got elected as a rebellion against the “centrist” status quo Hilary Clinton represented - more of the same.
In 2020, voters are till asking for systematic reform, which VP Biden is not offering. Further, Trump’s election deepened the country’s problems through Trump’s Fascist policies. Which leaves the country with a big dilemma: to maintain an unsustainable status quo, both Trumping and Clintonian/ Biden or take a chance on any of the other candidates. Senator Warren's rise in the polls suggests that voters really want change.
5
Democrats are self-destructive lot. If they don’t veer away from the past, the future will contain a Trump.
4
Obama's career was a cautionary tale, the moral of which was "Don't run until you're ready." Running for president should not be a way to raise your political and public profile — this is not a game. If only half the candidates currently running could learn from this story.
Obama was elected because of the financial crash. He was not really ready to lead and didn't do much leading. Fortunately he was very smart and found the right people in the banking industry to untangle the mess they'd made of all of our lives. But then he had no new ideas. Biden got the "Taskforce for the Middle Class" loaded on his shoulders and it promtly fell off and sat in the middle of the road where it was run over. Pelosi was given the thankless job of herding cats, that is getting democrats to agree on something and they came up with Romney's plan from Mass. because "hey it's a republican plan they'll have to agree on it" The ACA got called Obamacare by the Rep.s but he wouldn't enter the debate with a ten foot pole for fear of the blame to come. Marriage equality and discarding Dont Ask Dont Tell (thank the clintons for both) weren't finally discarded until 70% of voters said they supported it (not exactly taking an ethical stand.
In short he was mediocre and an underachiever because he really just wanted more celebrity to boost his brand but accidentally got elected (it happens a lot nowadays.) was unprepared. Please Dems, if you don't have a plan drop out!
2
Can we leave Obama and his legacy alone? Good, bad, indifferent, how better will all these nominees be compared to him? We need to move forward!
2
Can anyone name the last perfect president? I date back quite a few years, and I can't think of one. All presidents, whether we want to admit it or not, try to do their best with what they're given. Sometimes they're given a very favorable Congress to work with - sometimes not. Sometimes they inherit a strong economy and other times they inherit a disaster. So to debate the merits of any former resident of the White House, while interesting conversation, is rarely a productive one. These candidates can look back fondly on a former president or they can look back with disdain. They can stay close to a legacy (such as Joe Biden probably will) or they can run away from it (Trump's distancing from George W for instance).
But at the end of the day, if we try to keep re-living the past, we never move forward. I'm no Trump supporter but to me his biggest error (outside of his impulsive Twitter usage) is his insistence on re-living and re-fighting his fight against Hillary rather than declaring himself the winner and moving on. Whether or not we agree that JFK was a great president, what he did better than anyone else was finally move forward from the party of FDR to the party of "tomorrow." It's time for this new group of candidates to do the same.
Respect the past, embrace the future.
2
The future never arrives. It’s always in the future
1
Obama didn't understand the American promise, similar to 90% of the candidates in the Democratic primary. He came into power during a time of great turmoil, and misinterpreted his election as a mandate to fundamentally remake America.
Americans are generally risk-seeking people, we are willing to bet on ourselves and accept the consequences (and promise of second chances). Yes, may of the banks made bad deals, just as many homeowners filled out liar loan applications and bought more house than they could afford. But just because we fell on bad times did not mean we wanted to trade the opportunities of America for the lukewarm safety of a European social safety net.
He didn't see America for what it is, and his negotiations with Republicans were limited because he imagined a Republican written by Aaron Sorkin, rather than learning what his opposition wanted. Without consulting a single Republican, he proclaimed that the ACA was a Republican idea and therefore they should support it. He simply couldn't build consensus like Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton could.
In the end, he relied too much on executive orders - a limitation now made clear. Anything done by Executive Order can be undone by Executive Order.
Had we seen Obama for who he really was, we could have elected Romney in 2012 and be enjoying his second term rather than the current president.
25
@James
That’s an interesting, if typical, take on his presidency from a conservative. Democrats held plenty of hearings on Obamacare, and the rationale behind passing universal health care was not to coddle people, as you insinuate, but to bend the cost curve on health care, the biggest driver of deficit spending now and in the future. But true to form, Republicans demagogued it as a Socialism, ignoring that every major industrial nation has some form of universal care. Until Trump started sabotaging it, it was holding costs down and did something unique; it focused on preventative care which the private sector finds no money in. You’re also forgetting that Republicans were committed to a failed Obama presidency. When Republicans took over both houses of Congress, they refused to work with Obama and forced him to rely on the executive order to get something done, which by the way Trump is using himself to roll back decades of environmental policy, for one, that will leave the air and water dirtier and the people of this country sicker. It will be up to the next Democratic President to clean up Trump’s mess, much like Obama did with W’s.
9
Obama could not condescend to kowtow before the Republican altar. Some elements of that party had met on the day of first inauguration to make him a one-term President.
One had boldly and unambiguously declared him to be a liar. Obama treated thereafter treated the GOP with a well deserved contempt and scorn. The rest is history. To some of us Obama’s reaction to the GOP was apt and not lurid enough.
2
@James The American promise? The promise of one person... and anywhere from 0 to 50 votes? The promise of gerrymandered states? The promise of 2 illegitimate justices on the Supreme Court? The promise of the highest costing and worst outcome healthcare in the developed world? The promise of obscene and explicit lies that lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths in exchange for blood money (our post WWII foreign policy in a nutshell)? The promise of staying ignorant to objective reality in climate change? The promise of so much higher education debt that our posterity have effectively been robbed of wealth? Those promises? Spare me please.
2
I certainly don't want to hear left-wing people veering into truly ugly rhetoric about Barack Obama being some kind of neoliberal stooge and a Democrat In Name Only. Why write and talk so bitterly about a man who made his milquetoast, benign politics clear to all? Obama made no effort to conceal his political centrism in 2008. The far-left Democratic nominee for president that year was Dennis Kucinich and he never had a chance.
Obama was always about transcending divisions. That was his brand. He never planned to become U.S. president in the midst of a full-blown economic crisis. I was disappointed, but not entirely surprised, when Obama nominated Timothy Geithner of all people to be his Treasury Secretary. It was naive of people to expect that he would nominate somebody like Kucinich or Bernie Sanders to fill that cabinet position.
9
And what qualifications did Kucinich and Sanders have to be Secretary of the Treasury, pray tell? Your agreement with their politics?
I don’t know what it’s going to take to drive it into the Left’s brains that the remedy for Trump is not more Trump.
2
Debating Obama's legacy is about as valuable for Democrats as pondering Trump's theoretical positives. Such a waste of time.
8
@Pedro G: In theory, if you melt Trump down you'd be able to fill the winter oil lamps for a whole Alaskan town. ;-)
1
When you are dealing with a crisis in which our continued existence as a democracy is at stake, nitpicking the legacy of a decent past President is like fiddling while Rome burns. Focus people!
40
"But even liberal voters who admire the former president prefer to look to the future."
Not all of us.
And when we do look to the future, it's a future that evolves from the Obama/Biden Presidency - compassion grounded in political common-sense.
28
President Obama did the very best he could ; did he make mistakes ? Of course he did ; the biggest was thinking the Republicans would work with him when in fact they did their very best to sabotage him . Who can forget McConnell's pledge to make him a one term President , or the famous red line he drew in regards to Syria ? We all tend to have short memories and forget Congress , which was all Republican hobbled him . I laud the man for all dignity, class , grace and intelligence he exhibited in spite of all the road blocks the Republicans put in his path . As for Joe Biden , he is trying to ride Obama's coattails , I respect him and thank him for his long service to this country as a senator , and as a VP , but we cannot go back . Trump opened Pandora's box of nasties and we need an energetic person who can go head to toe with him , being courtly and rising above it all is not going to work , the country is now in a different place . Time to retire and rest on your own accolades .
18
@sm--remember how we criticized McConnell and were appalled at the notion of someone in govt saying they were going to make the sitting president a 1 term president? We felt that republicans were the most evil creatures on the planet for saying that out loud. Fast forward to today and every democratic presidential candidate and member if the house and senate. If we felt it was so unacceptable then when republicans did it, how is it perfectly acceptable today, when we do it?
We have completely become what we totally despised.
4
Obama’s naivety of the GOP was amazing. Some met on his first inaugural day to make him one-term president. One in Congress called him a liar in broad daylight.
That he should not receive a calabash full of water from any GOP member should have been his shibboleth.
@bored critic Yes I remember and how I wish civility would return to the arena ; I cringed when Julian Castro got nasty with Biden , it is all so unnecessary . However , Trump will be at his worst with whoever is the Dems nominee because he is desperate and insecure . Perhaps we need a Chihuahua like Julian to go tit for tat ( no disrespect meant , they're fierce little dogs ); they never let go and have a nasty bite . Yes I agree , it seems the unacceptable has become the norm , politics has never been nice but a line has been crossed . At best , one can only be civil to our fellow human beings regardless of their politics .
I don't think it's at all contradictory to have Mr. Obama as a touchstone and still hope for better policy and priorities going forward. He provided the country with a very poignant moral lesson of exactly how much Democratic centrism is worth in the face of today's Republican Party.
Mr. Obama was a centrist's centrist, working in good faith on many moderate, even conservative ideas. The ACA was based mostly on Republican ideas. The financial stimulus/recovery mostly helped the well-off and was light on aid or infrastructure that would help workers. He continued Bush's war and ramped up deportations. Despite being a progressive, I don't actually condemn anything I just listed. What I condemn is the Republican reaction, jumping even further to the right on every issue solely so they could oppose him. That's the lesson here.
19
President Obama was a huge disappointment for many Americans who really thought, based on his campaign rhetoric of progressive policies, that he was going to fight to change a corrupt establishment. Instead, he embraced the establishment and it, in return, embraced him. Eight more years of war in Afghanistan that he was suppose to get us out of. New wars started in Syria and Libya leading to hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths and millions of refuges straining an already stressed Europe coming out of the 2008 Great Recession. Banker walking away, not only not prosecuted, but with taxpayer funded bonuses. Bonuses! Millions evicted from their homes to satisfy making the banks whole. Milquetoast, aloof leadership and inexplicable appeasement of Republicans, as in his Grand Bargain, crafted by Biden to sell out Social Security and Medicare recipients and future recipients. Heck, he even bragged about being a moderate Republican. And let's not forget his TPP, a NAFTA-on-steroids trade deal that the Brexit states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin wanted nothing to do with and saw Hillary implementing it if elected. Is it any wonder she lost all those states? He was voted in with a huge mandate to lead and he could have been a great president of FDR proportions, but he's not a true leader. Nice guy, for sure, but not a leader and we paid for it.
45
@FXQ So he took office while we were fighting two wars and our country/world was on the precipice of another depression compliments of the Republicans. Given that I think he did an incredible job of pulling us back from the brink.
While I disagree with most of your characterizations and rationale based upon the state of the world at that time, I won't debate them here.
I don't disagree with your statement about "appeasement of Republicans".
He let McConnell walk over him on Merrick Garland and the Russia Election Hacking. If the Senate decided to not to "advise and consent" the SC nominee Garland, then he should have forced the issue with them for not doing their constitutional duty. Instead he just took it instead of fighting for Garland.
5
It doesn’t matter what Democrats want to hear, what matters is the truth. Is the New York Times deciding what to print based on what’s popular or what is true?
Everything is decided based on polls now. The impeachment issue has dragged on because the people don’t want it (allegedly). But what is leadership? What does it require? Leadership demands bringing people around to ideas or actions that might not otherwise be popular. And leadership requires personal courage.
It is difficult to face the truth that people like Obama are not what we think; but he is a traitor, a calculating and manipulative human being who put his political agenda ahead of the country’s welfare. For the sake of democracy, sentiment has to bow to reality.
Obama was an awful president who betrayed his country.
8
@Cecelie Berryi That is your truth , and you're entitled to believe as you do , but I disagree . Bush left this country in an awful mess .
2
Yes, President Obama had his faults, but then, I can't remember a one.
Of course he was a great President, just look at the President before him, and then the one after him, that's all you need to observe.
22
Obama's great legacy is permanent. But times do change, and we must turn sharp left to save this planet and ourselves.
11
I admire Obama and don't really wish to litigate his presidency either. However, it is somewhat helpful in determining whether the neo-liberalism of Joe Biden is the way to go. I felt that it wasn't with Hillary Clinton during the 2016 primaries and it's the main thing holding me back from Biden in this go-around. Of course the question is, if not neo-liberalism then what is a desirable and politically palatable alternative? Does Sanders or Warren represent it, or someone else? So yes, I think we unfortunately do need to have these discussions in the primary.
6
We should not abide criminals in the presidency and Obama was just that. He must pay for his crimes.
11
@Cecelie Berry
To what criminal behavior are you referring? Specifics, please.
4
@Cecelie Berry
Details please.
2
What?!
3
I think it’s time Dems put Obama in the rearview mirror. While I appreciate that he had integrity, intelligence and dignity, unlike the current occupant, Obama was a centrist who maintained W’s drone policy, tried to strike a grand bargain with Republicans on reducing Medicare and Social Security benefits, bailed out banks but not homeowners, bent to pressure from McCain and others in supporting a surge in Iraq, underestimated Republican cynicism, and most unfortunately pivoted to austerity during the worst recession since the Depression. His bailout of the auto industry saved the last of our manufacturing base, but now an ungrateful GM CEO is stripping striking autoworkers of their health benefits. He’s a good man, but but maybe too good for these times.
3
Why do Democrats insist on forming a circular firing squad? These guys (and gals) keep up this nonsense, and we will get four more years of Donald Trump. See how they like that legacy.
15
Obama's greatest legacy is his healthcare system. But, all but one presidential candidate wants to replace it. So, Democrats don't want to talk about it. His immigration stance was very similar to Trump's positions, in fact speeches are almost verbatim between the two on the subject. So, Democrats don't want to talk about that either. His position on the environment was liberal, but not enough to match the agendas of the current Democrat candidates who support a much more aggressive Green New Deal. So, they don't want to talk about that either. Obama was simply not far enough to the left. Yet, if he were running today, he would be far ahead of any of the other candidates, including Biden. Go figure.
6
It is entertaining at a minimum to watch the Democrats struggling to avoid tripping over their own hypocrisy when considering the Obama years.
He deported more people than Trump. He supported and funded a border wall (maybe it was called a fence, but that's wordsmith-ing), separated families, and the Dems were all for it, but now, given it's Trump actually building a wall, they are vehemently against it. What changed?
They claim gerrymandering and voter suppression but Obama managed to get elected twice (DESPITE that pesky Electoral College thing, I might add) and the Dems did well with the House in the last election. How is that possible?
He authorized more drone strikes then anyone else and ran up a deficit greater then all previous presidents combined.
And he caved on pushing for a Supreme court nominee because he and the whole Democrat population were sure it was "Hillary's turn".
Maybe its the Republicans who should think more about how they look back at the Obama years.
21
Hailing or handwringing about any past presidency gets us nowhere. Candidates need to focus on the increasingly dismal present and then explain how they will improve voters ‘ lives at home and America’s standing in the world. After we have a nominee, there will be plenty of time to celebrate the Obama legacy. I expect we will hear from President Obama during the general election campaign. As ever, he and Michelle are a class act.
6
Maybe if the media asked about what we want going forward, rather than stirring up fights about the past, we could move forward. But the media likes stirring up fights.
10
I'm much more concerned with the liberal legacy of having elected Bush and then Trump and seeing that it doesn't happen AGAIN. We literally can't afford to have liberals hand over any more Supreme Court seats in addition to the 4 they e gifted the GOP in the last 16 years.
7
You gotta love that 20/20 hindsight. But everyone should put things in context, most importantly the global economic disaster that Obama turned around. And the ACA has and is still helping millions. All attention by Democrats needs to be focused on mitigating the unprecedented disaster created, once again, by Republicans and the era of Trump.
9
Obama's policies may not have always been perfect, but I did admire how foundational they were in building a better future....the Climate Accord, the development of an East Asian market to counter China, the Affordable Care Act (which with tweaks and cultivation would bring us to at least a public option for all), the nuclear deal with Iran. Rather a lot of accomplishments for any president. Sadly followed by a human wrecking ball.
12
How dare we besmirch the legacy of Barack Obama. He was one of the best Republican presidents in my lifetime and the ultimate war monger of our nation's history. He sold more weapons abroad than any other president doubling what George Bush had sold. Like a good Republican, he bailed out Wall Street/banks while the worker lost life savings.
And when it was his turn to nominate a Supreme Court justice, he rolled over for the Republicans when they blocked him. A Harvard law professor couldn't come up with a way to make it happen? Yeah, right. He had no problem fighting all over the planet except when it came to fighting for his constituents.
The reason we have Trump is because we had Obama/Biden. The 2010 midterm had the largest shift of House seats since 1948 and Republicans gained so many state legislatures and gubernatorial seats that they were able to take control with the 2010 census giving them so much power. Biden was V.P at this time and Pelosi was speaker of the house.
Sure, let's have a reboot of "Obama's Friends" and see if the upcoming election would be any different for Biden/Pelosi than 2010 was. After watching the Corey Lewandowski hearings and the complete incompetence of the Democratic leadership, I can't see myself voting for any Democrats in the next election with the exception of one of my senators.
22
Make restoring respect for honest, lawful, constitutional government the top priority. Unless Democrats win the presidency and control both houses of congress our Constitution will remain under assault through voter suppression, personal enrichment in opposition to the public interest, allowing the president to seize the power of the purse, nominating and confirming under-qualified and/or openly bigoted people to be life-tenured judges, and so on.
To adapt from Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: “President Trump’s [and too many congressional Republicans] deep, seething contempt for the notion that consequential acts of governing should be based on information gathered in good faith — rather than undertaken in willful bad faith or geared toward merely propping up his [and their] lies and obsessions — is suddenly garnering a lot more serious scrutiny.
"... this phenomenon has been long-running, and has soaked down into many areas of government.”
2
We can thank President Obama for giving us President Trump. The people rejected Hillary Clinton because her policies would have been a continuation of President Obama's which proved to be a failure. He was a pleasant man but not a good president. We are in a much better place now.
14
Trump wouldn’t fight custard.
Back off candidates. Hindsight is easy. Move on. Time to convince the voters that your plans are the way forward without reference to Obama.
2
I believe that Obama knew that a large scale influx of poor undocumented migrants would hurt poor African American citizens in this country. Today's Democrats do not share his beliefs. Obama's policies would certainly appear right wing in the platform of leading Democrat candidates.
7
A rising tide lifts all boats
Barack Obama spent most of his presidency fighting against Mitch McConnell and a Republican party which totally refused to admit a black man as President of the United States. Instead, the GOP choose to inflict a corrupt conman and fraud on the nation for the sole purpose of destroying the ACA and creating a right-wing court system. There is no question about who deserves admiration and who needs to be booted from office and sent to the dustbin of history.
15
The headline should have read: Democrats Love Obama.
The media creates controversy to sell papers.
Fair reporting would show that the only controversy is how to remove Trump;
7
Both this news report as well as Farhad Manjoo's lacerating Opinion piece today are past due though they reach somewhat different conclusions. This article was depressing because it confirms to me that the halo around Obama acts as a pacifier for much of the mainline Dem base. Manjoo, on the other hand, makes it clear that he thinks Obama most significant legacy will be the election of Donald Trump. I agree with him and I have been making similar arguments in the readers' comments section of the Times for the last few years (though more often than not my comments do not get published, with no reason is given).
I am pleased nevertheless that the newspaper has allowed a chink of light to fall on this forbidden subject.
6
Still waiting for an African Americans president, not a biracial one who says race is a social construct. Obama's entire presidency was a joke. African Americans have to realize screaming white privilege will not them give them power which overwhelmingly in white male hands. Substituting biracials for authentic Africans who are Americans citizens will not change the races situation in the USA either.
5
Is the left-wing school teacher from Massachusetts responsible for this?
1
In retrospect Obama could have things differently. But he did not and he saved us from a depression and built an economy that is still doing very well over 10 years later. He did not threaten our democracy, he built our healthcare system, he fought greenhouse gases and on and on. He was a positive, not the negative like we are dealing with now.
233
@DENOTE REDMOND
You and others (including Socrates) are forgetting one of his major achievements, the Iran nuclear deal.
5
There is a way to achieve the dual objectives of nostalgia for the Obama years decency .....and progress.....and a hunger for something new.
First throw the imposter in the White House out by alleviating the fear among some voters that the Democrats will produce open borders, take away my health care and AR-15, and outlaw eating meat.
Once safely inside, and with a Democratic Congress, take pragmatic steps to fix health care and immigration, make the tax code start the process of closing the wealth gap, and renew friendships with our allies. Once people get accustomed to these changes, work toward universal healthcare, fair immigration policies for immigrants and Americans, and make more adjustments to the tax code.
We must not make the progressive fish too big to swallow all at once and allow the alt-right to beat us over the head with it.
25
@Hugh Jones It's not "guns", but military style weapons in undisciplined and untrained hands. Two different issues. Where is the nearest well regulated militia?
1
First of all ,Biden was more of a token ,sequestered for much of the later Obama proceedings because of his wavering media presence.The ACA ,within one vote of the Supreme court denial was only passed as a tax ,unconstitutionally because only congress may tax.Originally an unjust stepping stone to single payer the ACA has only become a morass of litigation,another victim of an election outcome the Democrats would never believe could happen.The greatest play was from the beginning to his banking cabinet Obama gave the banks a cool trillion from the treasury and at the end 500 billion to the terrorist Mullahs in a secret pact over congress appropriation who's funds it did not belong to .From the cool trillion ,it seems as though recently he's been recompensed ,as Presidents are apt to.
15
Democrats’ failure to abandon Obama’s corporatism is how we lost to a joke like Trump. And very well may again.
97
@Michael
That's not true at all. White folks' fears of losing their relative position in the power hierarchy to ethnic minorities domestically and to the Chinese internationally put Trump over the top . In the most rigorous analysis of the 2016, Diana Mutz of the University of Pennsylvania concluded that, “The 2016 election . . . was an effort by members of already dominant groups to assure their continued dominance and by those in an already powerful and wealthy country to assure continued dominance.” (2018, p. 9).
Maureen Craig of NYU and Jennifer Richeson of Harvard published a few papers whose data were spot on consistent with Mutz's research.
So, there are actual data bearing on the matter that suggest you're wrong. Take a look at it.
5
@Michael
That's not true at all. White folks' fears of losing their relative position in the power hierarchy to ethnic minorities domestically and to the Chinese internationally put Trump over the top . In the most rigorous analysis of the 2016, Diana Mutz of the University of Pennsylvania concluded that, “The 2016 election . . . was an effort by members of already dominant groups to assure their continued dominance and by those in an already powerful and wealthy country to assure continued dominance.” (2018, p. 9).
Maureen Craig of NYU and Jennifer Richeson of Harvard published a few papers whose data were spot on consistent with Mutz's research.
So, there are actual data bearing on the matter that suggest you're wrong. Take a look at it.
1
Clinton's main message in 2016 wass that she'll continue the Obama presidency. Every time I think of what her loss has cost this nation, I bleed inside.
And now Biden wants to play that record again (he loves vinyl); it didn't work in 2016 and it's way out of date in the much more complex and muddled world of 2020. I can't tell you how sad Biden's retrograde goals make me. Doesn't Biden have any ideas of his own and for 2020 and beyond?
65
@
if not Biden, than who?
2
@Cmr
Thanks for asking. Warren without a doubt.
A major, if not THE root of our problems is that government works for the powerful, not for the rest of us. I've not known any politician who gets and understands this better than Warren. This may well be because she's not a politician at heart; she's basically a smart, highly educated, ethical person (rare qualities, not prerequisites for public office).
She's shown us consistently, month after month, that she can translate her knowledge into plain speak and that she is so likable. Have you not seen the love that comes from the crowd of thousands. That's the likability that gets votes.
10
Weak article in that this isn't about looking to the future. It's about people's lack of hindsight, which you think would be better.
Obama wasn't some tyrant. Out of his 8 years, only his first two weren't obstructed. And given he was re-elected, people might not have been thrilled, but they certainly thought he was doing enough of a better job than Romney would that he got another 4 years.
Only now have bashers come forward, in the misguided attempt to woo more progressive voters. The same bashers who would have gotten even less done than Obama.
It's fine to be critical, that's thinking. But the bashing on Obama is mostly blind, and I'm not going to pull the punch that much of it is racist.
Vote for who you want, be critical of who you want. But bashing and trying to bash one of the best Presidents the US ever had is to be willfully ignorant. Be mad at the failure of Democrats to defeat Trump in 2016 with one of the worst campaigns ever.
15
@D Collazo
So what's the difference between criticism and bashing? Merely minor stuff you disagree with?
2
@D Collazo, no, those of us who voted for Obama twice (three times, including the 2008 primary), were expecting, at the least, that once a lame-duck, upon defeating the more-of-the-same Romney, that Obama would at least deliver on his 2008 rhetoric about ending the insanity of the "Forever" wars, action that needed zero cooperation from Congress, in his unilateral role as Commander-in-Chief. . . and we came forward right away, during his first term, during his second term, critical of his signature legacy - total capitulation to and embrace of the national security state and military-industrial complex and all of the associated abuses and excesses. Both in foreign policy and how that impacts domestic policy. While a good and decent man, in many ways; and while this may be an impossible standard, Obama was the rhetoric of a Martin Luther King, Jr or a Bobby Kennedy, but, sadly, without the courage of either. . . Following Bush-Cheney and the disaster of the lies of Iraq, open for all to see even as the lies were spoken, Obama did not have a high hurdle to turn that ship. . . And he failed, ending his 8 years as longest war-time president in US history. It is tragic but Obama played his own role in delivering the nation Trump. . .
6
@D Collazo
Racist? Really? You are seriously going to go there? He was voted for by many of the current white Trump supporters. No, the guy was your typical, average weak establishment president. Nothing special. He had such potential but his true nature of lacking leadership and fight came out. I think it was his nature to get along and go along. Looking back on his life it was probably always his nature to be liked and accepted by others. You'd think that reaching across the aisle for the umpteenth time to compromise with Republicans, only to have his hand swatted away, he'd have learned, but he continued to sell out his base for the go-along-get-along mentality that was at his core being. That is not what makes a true or great leader. No one is "bashing Obama, but if we don't acknowledge our mistake we will repeat it, as we seem to be doing in even thinking of Biden as presidential material.
5
Why are they bashing the messiah?
This can't be a good plan.
6
Moving on from Obama also means moving on from Biden
9
Obama was a grave disappointment and helped, unfortunately, deliver the nation Trump. . . and no one is perfect, and this is not to say, he did not occasionally try. . . However, despite his 2008 rhetoric about being different than Bush-Cheney, not only did he fail to bring any accountability to the Bush-Cheney war criminals but he continued the "Forever" wars his entire 8 years, ending his presidency with shameful distinction of longest wartime president in US history. . . expanded the wars into new territory. . . put war hawk Hillary Clinton in charge, "We came, we saw, he died," killing Quadaffi because Libya did not want to cooperate with CIA gun-running to CIA-funded and trained "rebels" in Syria . . . unleashing yet more instability into the Middle East and directly into Europe. . . via millions of refugees fleeing the CIA-intensified conflict, from both Syria over the "land bridge" and across the Mediterranean, ending Libya's "gatekeeper" role and cooperation . . . Obama-Biden-Clinton and their capitulation to and embrace of the national security state and military-industrial abuses providing direct role in the rise of the far right in Europe. . . Obama-Biden's Pentagon and the corruption around the trillion-dollar, jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none-ultimate "golden fleece" albatross, the F-35 fighter jet, to say nothing of the corrupt basing decisions to destroy health and home values of US citizens. . . this is the Obama-Biden legacy. . .
57
@GRH
A grave disappointment? Are you serious? He brought us back from the brink of the second great depression. He got us the first major step in the direction of universal health care. He did not get us involved in any wars. He was the best president of my lifetime and I am 65. I sure as heck wish we had him as our president now.
28
@Paul Ruszczyk
He didn't fight. Yes, a grave disappointment. He just didn't have enough experience. And coasted through his final two years in office. Tired.
An honorable man, though!
3
@Paul Ruszczyk, "He did not get us involved in any wars" in the same way Richard Nixon did not. . . Continuing unnecessary, tragic wars of choice, whether troop variations in Iraq and then surges, or hiring thousands upon thousands of private military contractors to hide continued involvement; expanding wars into Yemen, Syria, Libya, via abuse of the CIA as an extension of the Pentagon, in contravention of everything Harry Truman believed when he signed the legislation that created the national security state. . . letting generals and military-industrialists continually out-maneuver him, in spite of his unilateral authority as Command-in-Chief and Executive Branch head, in charge of the CIA and NSA. . . a good and decent man, overall, in his personal life. . . soaring rhetoric. . . and, yes, a grave disappointment.
4
I have a signed photo of then President Obama in my high school classroom. My students always say the same thing when they look at it: I miss him.
That's the most eloquent testament to his legacy I can think of- he impacted our kids, and they know it.
236
@R Mandl Teared up reading this, thanks for sharing. What the nation's children are absorbing now from the WH is so toxic, I fear how long the impact will be felt.
10
@ R Mandl. Young people like you are the future. In 2008 the polling places in my community were overflowing with young people voting. Please implore your generation that you must vote to be heard. Do regret being guilty of not seeing this coming until it was too late in 2016...specifically after the 2nd presidential debate.Cannot take anything for granted. VOTE.
3
@R Mandl: I agree with your students: I miss him too. I miss President Barack Obama's decency and civility, his good humor and high intellect, and most of all, his compassion and good will.
13
I personally think President Obama was a great president and will go down in history as one of the best.
But in hindsight his centrism feels naïve and got us a whole bunch of conservative judges including one on the Supreme Court that should have been Garland. He didn't say a word when he knew the Russians were interfering in our election. He compromised with Republicans on the ACA, letting them weaken it and making it worse overall, and for that he was rewarded with not a single vote from the Republicans to get it passed. I honestly don't understand why any Democrat thinks we need another candidate who's "willing to reach across the isle". When it comes to negotiating there's times when it's appropriate to log roll and find compromise, but in today's environment it feels more like trying to buy something in the flea market. You need to push hard to get what you want or people are going to take advantage of your kindness.
11
@Richard
He failed to appropriately deal with Wall St. after the '08 crash.
I suspect that he had his hands tied behind his back in many instances. Perhaps because of bigotry?
3
@Richard Obama was the best president during my lifetime, but that doesn't mean he did everything right. If we don't learn from his mistakes, then they will have been made for nothing.
5
@Richard When you reach across the aisle in this day and age, you get it snapped off by the sharks.
2
“Part of me says it’s time for something really new and different,” Ms. Chase said, “but then the other part says we’ve got to have somebody who can beat Trump.”
Amen sister. You've articulated my feelings and almost certainly the feelings of tens of millions of Americans.
On the one hand Trump looks eminently beatable, all the people he's angered and/or appalled on pretty much every day he's been president.
So it makes you think almost any Democrat could win and Lord knows we need some big changes.
On the other hand a Trump re-election is a total nightmare. And having a nominee whose positions scare a lot of people would make it more likely.
6
What do you and Mr. Stoller mean by not knowing when the choice might be made? It’s early next year in the caucuses and primaries!
1
For all the destruction of Obama's policies by Trump, will show in the not-too-distant future, that Trump unwittingly burnished Obama's legacy.
Who can beat Trump in 2020 should be the only requirement for the democrat's nominee.
9
News Flash: Obama is not running for the presidency.
Why are we wasting time space and energy
on his "legacy"?
The news should focus on the massive problems
Trump has created for our nation today.
115
@JM Because his VP, Joe Biden, is currently running for president largely on his tenure in the Obama white house. You can't honestly evaluate Biden as a candidate without examining the Obama administration as a whole.
10
@AACNY
Can't argue against "Trump [is] addressing ... our immigration mess". He sure is making it worse and worse.
Trump's other achievements are petty. The unemployment is merely a continuation of Obama's and the Fed's policies; Trump has zero to do with it. The prison reform is a pittance, affecting a few thousand people at best, if it is actually implemented, which I await seeing.
5
@JM I couldn’t agree more! What’s up NYT with all these articles and opinion pieces about Obama? It seems you’re pandering to the baby-in-chief who complained that he wasn’t getting enough good press from his “hometown paper”.
1
President Obama waged an unprecedented war on whistleblowers.
Put that piece of information in the context of today's story on Trump's promise to a foreign leader as disclosed by a whistleblower.
There are indeed reasons to be grateful for Obama's tenure as president. But please, let's not be blinded by the atrocity that is the Trump presidency.
We must be objective or we risk repeating abuses and mistakes.
17
It's perfectly reasonable to question/criticize aspects of Obama's white house tenure, and the fact that there are so many Dems who won't acknowledge this is downright scary. Yes, we look back at the Obama white house with the benefit of hindsight, but if we don't examine where he went wrong, how are we supposed to learn from those missteps? If Democrats honestly think that burying their heads in the sand is the best strategy, then they are doomed.
A big part of Biden's current primary run is built off of his tenure as VP. If he gets to benefit from the successes of the Obama administration, then it logically follows that he would also have to have some responsibility for the failures as well. It's absolutely fair game.
9
@Greg But it is nice to remember having a decent human being in the White House.
1
I can list twenty of Obama’s achievements in office, and add a long list of his failures, and get the facts right too. Yet oddly, the Jill Stein and St Bernie types can’t manage to come up with a clear list of either.
It’s all shouted adjectives and strange labels. And none of it, NONE OF IT, is based in anything real. That’s what Trump does, folks.
And I swear, half the shouts are coming from people who couldn’t be bothered to vote in 2010, 2014 or 2016, and are now looking at Trump and scrabbling for scapegoats and alibis.
21
Barack Obama was an outstanding President who suffered the misfortune of governing while a radical Republican right-wing was busy abandoning democracy, American ideals and the Constitution for full-blown oligarchy and FOX-hate-radio-fueled fascism.
He wasn't perfect...just like every other human....but he wasn't an unethical crook like our current award-winning Oval Office occupant.
Obama was also the most ethical and decent President since Jimmy Carter.
Obama has the nation's respect and admiration outside the radical right.
But now it's 2020, and time for a more progressive change to counter 39 years of Randian, Reverse-Robin-Hood Republicanism that has been waging nonstop economic war on the nonrich.
Time for a progressive to get American back toward the center of humanity from our Republican ditch.
It's Elizabeth Warren time.
Yee-hah !
312
@Socrates
Hold your horses.
- Your cerebral and smooth-operator president was succeeded by one Trump, so much about his legacy, in a way.
- He was the champion of status quo and good-feel, not of hope and change he campaigned for.
- What exactly is his legacy except for Obamacare? An astonishing communication and contact with the masses, a supremely smart and approachable guy, I'll surely give you that.
- Economically, the USA was on an auto-pilot of sorts coming from the abyss of disaster in the last quarter of the Bush years. BO did not really do anything of note economically, just left things heal.
- A non-liberal voter in USA today has no particular reason to fume at DT, absolutely nothing DT did negatively affect or is affecting an everyday person in USA. This does not include the liberals whose hatred for DT is unhealthy, unlimited, and unreasonable.
21
@Socrates Is that a Howard Dean reference?
I am liking Senator Warren my own self. I do worry that saying we'll force everyone off of their employer-provided health insurance will give the Republicans an opening.
16
@Socrates
So many people have forgotten the financial crisis Obama inherited. So many people have forgotten that we finally came within reach of universal health care with the ACA. So many people have forgotten that we went from 150,000 troops in conflict areas to something like 14,000 troops.
Obama had other things to do besides focusing on income inequality. Back then it was-- "what inequality?" Even top-tier economists like Paul Krugman were still buying into the 'rising tide raises all boats' globalization mantra. Did Obama espouse free trade? Of course. Did he do enough to make sure our ever-increasing GDP made its way into the hands of our working class? Maybe not, but it's ridiculous to think he would have gotten anywhere with the Koch Brothers bought-and-paid-for Republican congress he had to deal with.
In 2012, Obama considered giving income inequality some attention in his campaign, but the optics were bad. Mitt Romney (47% pay no income taxes) was painting our working poor as 'moochers expecting a handout.' Mr. Romney certainly didn't see income inequality as a problem.
Obama didn't want to step in that mess. Can't you just see Fox Fake News-- 'Obama Champions Welfare Queens!'
Hindsight is pointless. I think Democrats needed to see a good president and a decent man all but destroyed to wake up and take the gloves off. We have an unfortunate tendency, however, to land the first punches on our own. I really wish we'd stop doing that.
27
Honestly this is about Biden trying to hide behind Obama instead of standing on his own merits.
Also looking at executive actions even under Obama is relevant to make course corrections as needed.
We also cannot live in the past. We need to deal with the present disaster and plot a course through troubled waters based on our tenacity and capability to understand what we face.
9
I admire Obama and thought then (and still do) that he and his family were real role models for all Americans, not just the George Bushes of the world.
But that is not to say I agreed with him on all issues. Far from it.
Early in his administration, he chose to pursue a path that may have saved the banks from failing, but in the process he also chose to leave too many Americans in the dust. Trump is one of the legacies of those choices.
Whether we want to admit it or not, the Obama-Biden administration is one of the reasons we find ourselves in the mess we are in now.
62
The reason the ‘little folks’ received very little relief was the Byzantine process by which people had to apply. Also, the relief programs did not get wide publicity or advertising. Add to that the banks being unwilling to really get behind these actions. But they were there and available to anyone who could brave the gantlet required. I for one am still sitting in my home because of those programs.
24
@avrdsthe only reason we are in the mess we are in now is the Democratic voters who would not vote for Hillary Clinton when Sanders lost the nomination. If they had voted, she would have won. If any group decides not to vote for the Democratic candidate in 2020, then Trump will win again.
5
Count me in as not wanting to hear it. It's history now, nobody's perfect, and no one will ever be perfect. But let's vote for the best we can get right now.
135
@Tom J.
But good to know/analyze the opportunities lost during the Obama administration. I voted for him twice. Thought he was a great man. But, he was a very inexperienced president. I do not want this country to repeat this mistake again. We need experience...and, no, not Joe Biden.
We need new blood, but, new blood who has lots of experience. WARREN for President 2020.
We need a fighter more than ever.
2
President Obama is a good president and with a president they have their mistakes. All you have to do is look at the speeches he has done and his WHCD he has done. He has appealed to young people like me because he can take jokes, speak intelligently, and think about policies that benefit everyone. When the 2016 election came around, Trump upended the rotting carpet that is his election campaign. We went from trying to help dispel myths and lies to accepting them as the norm.
The amount of lies Trump has said and tweeted in the last 3-4 years has given the people an excuse to do the same. The GOP has already upended the government by electing quite possibly the worse of the worst man into the presidency. I missed the time when Obama can laugh at a joke instead of having Trump rage on Twitter about boycotting SNL because they mocked him in a skit.
Attacking Obama's legacy doesn't help anyone instead we have to continue building on them and solidify that foundation to help everyone we can.
70
@George Gu
Where is he now?
His silence in the face of Trump's evisceration of his policy legacy is deafening.
1
President Obama is a well-meaning, intelligent and thoughtful person. Yet it was under his watch that the Pandora's box of racial strife, cultural warfare and identity politics was opened - he has hurt the nation in a way that few Presidents before him had.
His foreign policy will have been viewed as a disaster (tolerating the shenanigans from Putin, Assad, provocations from China...) but it is the encouragement of and support for racial divisiveness that will leave the greatest mark.
27
@Kai, he told the truth about what is going on in America, and that is his greatest legacy.
15
@Oatey
I don’t know if you mean to do so but it sounds as if you are blaming Obama for the racist response and actions of the tea party and white nationalism?
I think that blame lay with us and democrats being disconnected from the middle of this countries growing extremism. They sounded like the crazy uncle at the thanks giving dinner that we ignored. Now the crazy uncle party is running the country and is telling the rest of the family they are traitors.
I don’t blame Obama. I blame us for not paying attention to the extremism growing in this nation and sponsored by right wing news agencies and commenters like Tucker Carlson.
41
@Kai
Obama was certainly not responsible for the racial divisiveness that occurred on his watch. It was the racist Republicans who used his skin color to do so, and Trump has doubled down.
164
I have tremendous admiration for President Obama as an upright and honest man of integrity, for his scandal-free life and strong family and for his tremendous achievement in showing that all Americans are equal whatever the color of his skin. As for his accomplishments while in office, I will always be full of sorrow for what might have been if had been willing to face up to the entrenched forces of evil and corruption that rule our nation, particularly Wall Street and the military complex. Perhaps my standards are too high and it was too much to expect from any mortal man.
38
@Chuck Burton
He had two years of a Democratic majority in the House and Senate. And that traitor Lieberman can't even be counted as a Democrat. Obama wrung as much from the Congress as anybody could. He was not a dictator.
5