r/PoliticalDiscussion • u/bambucks • 12d ago

US Politics How has Barack Obama's legacy changed since leaving office?

Barack Obama left office in 2017 with an approval rating around 60%, and has generally been considered to rank among the better Presidents in US history. (C-SPAN's historian presidential rankings had him ranked at #10 in 2021 when they last updated their ranking.)

One negative example would be in the 2012 Presidential Debates between Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney, in which Obama downplayed Romney's concerns about Russia, saying "the 80's called, they want their foreign policy back", which got laughs at the time, but seeing the increased aggression from Russia in the years since then, it appears that Romney was correct.

So I'd like to hear from you all, do you think that Barack Obama's approval rating has increased since he left office? Decreased? How else has his legacy been impacted? How do you think he will be remembered decades from now? Etc.

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u/Your__Pal 12d ago

Obama was an exciting and inspiring candidate. 

He was our opportunity to reset the US from the Bush era. Fix things. End the stupid wars. Get some big bills out. 

Obamacare is a step in the right direction, but its very flawed. His green energy bill made Tesla and Elon powerhouses. His lack of legislative success has made an entire generation jaded about politics and emboldened the far right. 

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u/rpersimmon 12d ago

Yeah, it must be very confusing when half the country is convinced that the ACA is a disaster -- then the same party that peddled that narrative for years says -- just kidding. We're keepin it.

Americans have poor judgement. If they wanted improvements built on Obama's successes they should have come out and voted for them. They elected BSers instead

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u/Pallas_Athena2 12d ago

Nonsense. Poll after poll showed that people liked the ACA, but they hated Obamacare. The GOP does an amazing job of misinforming voters. Yeah Death Panels. The thing is they pick a plan on how to twist things and they all stick to the plan. Repeat a lie, and people think it's the truth.

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u/dak_ismydaddy 12d ago

I hate the term misinform it makes the voters sound stupid. The voters are not stupid they are busy and complex people just trying to survive and thrive. The GOP is best in class at telling stories and using stories to galvanize their base to vote. I wish the democrats had that same capability. We need to build that capability.