Obama years

President Obama was the darling of the national press but his strength was only for himself as the party suffered serious setbacks during his eight years. His personal accomplishments represented by health care reform, climate change regulations and bank reforms are now being dismantled by Trump but the loses the democrats incurred across the country remain. When Obama took office, there were 60 Democratic senators; now there are 46. The number of House seats held by Democrats has shrunk from 257 to 188. There are now nine fewer Democratic governors than in 2009. Democrats currently hold fewer elected offices nationwide than at any time since the 1920s. Obama also left a party with aging leadership and many younger democrats are unhappy as seen in the backlash against Pelosi. As Obama left the White House he left behind Harry Reid age 77, Nancy Pelosi age 78, Joe Biden age 75 and new comer Barry Sanders age 76. One potential candidate for president in 2020 is Senator Warren who is a youngster at 69. The press still treats Obama as a kind of hero but they would be hard pressed to justify their opinion based on his record but will fall back on his likeability.