Well, can we? Obama and the hype machine

Elected amid fervour and renewed American belief, it was inevitable that the first black president of the US wouldn’t match the hopes and dreams of a nation, writes Elizabeth Drew

BARACK Obama was widely considered an exciting new figure when he was first elected president of the US in 2008. His increasing unpopularity and virtual abandonment by his own party in his second term in 2014 stems largely from that fact: expectations exceeded reality. But, more important, reality changed — in several ways.

Obama is not a failed president. He has, in fact, accomplished much in nearly impossible circumstances. In his first two years in office, when his Democratic Party controlled both houses of Congress, he took numerous steps to stem the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Likewise, he got his landmark healthcare reform, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.