To hear Democrats tell it though, President Obama has won the last two Presidential elections (true). He's won them big too, especially in the electoral college (also true). He's won huge majorities of young people, unmarried women, African-Americans, LGBT Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, Jewish Americans, non-white women, Muslim Americans, and more.
So what are Democrats to do? It is true that Republicans hold more offices than ever. It's also true that despite the GOP twice avoiding nominating a wacko, President Obama won two mandate elections. He twice scored a majority of the popular vote. He twice surpassed 300 electoral votes, easily. He twice swept through almost all of the states that were considered "in play" in the election. Clearly speaking, President Obama was politically successful. It just didn't spread to electoral success for others. Perhaps it is that Democrats don't typically nominate anyone like President Obama for office? Perhaps it's that his politics can't sell in most constituencies? Perhaps it's something else?
Clearly Democrats should not toss out his governance as a model for the future. Millions more have health care today, the unemployment rate is way down, the environment is better protected, U.S. auto makers are succeeding, Osama Bin Laden is dead, China is addressing climate change with us, and so many other things have been improved on. His Presidency has been a success.
At the end of the Clinton Administration, Democrats ran away from the most popular and successful President in decades, mostly because the Republican talking points convinced them it was a smart idea. It wasn't. Democrats should not repeat their mistakes at the end of the Obama Administration. The country liked him, and what he did. You don't throw that out because the other side says it's unpopular. Of course it is- with them.
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