For a long time, Obama's 2008 campaign promise of "Hope" looked like it was going to be a little bit off the mark. Bipartisanship is worse than ever. Obamacare has faced challenges its whole existence -- at this very moment, it's looking at the prospect of skyrocketing costs. America's drone strikes kill unintended targets 90 percent of the time. And clowns now roam the streets without fear.
Oh, and Prince died.
But that's maybe being a little too negative. A 2015 poll of political science scholars ranked Obama as 18th-best out of 42 presidents. That's not too shabby, even if it is a little premature, since he still has a couple months left to take all our guns. And he's currently on track to keep 77 percent of his campaign promises. This is all solid B-student stuff. Essentially competent.
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Not, like, doctor material, but you'd let him fix your car.
And despite the endless congressional gridlock he's faced, Obama has had a number of legislative successes this year. He ended No Child Left Behind with a bill which seems to have involved actual, mythical bipartisan compromise. He signed a two-year budget bill which allowed the country to avoid defaulting on its debt. And he signed a bipartisan bill addressing the ongoing opioid crisis (more on this later).
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It's a doozy. Buckle up.
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