“Sometimes it’s not the fall that kills you. It’s the sudden stop at the bottom.”

It seems like only yesterday when the results came in from Pennsylvania in 2008. The Keystone State was Republican nominee John McCain‘s last stand in a race that almost no one thought he could win against a surging Barack Obama, backed by a slobbering American press in a way we’d never seen. 

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Obama won Pennsylvania by more than 10 points, sealing the race to become the 44th president of the United States. The result wasn’t stunning given the financial crash, former President George W. Bush’s unpopularity, and late Sen. McCain’s slow and tedious performances on the stump compared to the electric Obama. What stunned was the fact that just a few years prior, Obama was a mere community organizer with no executive experience.

All of that didn’t matter: Barack Obama knew how to wow a crowd. He was relatable. He was young, capturing the presidency at just 47. His wife, Michelle Obama, was charming and strong. His two young daughters, Sasha and Melia, were adorable. It was Camelot all over again. 

Barack Obama’s eight years in office, however, were a profound disappointment, especially given the hype. The economy grew at an average of just 2.3%. Unemployment remained stubbornly high well after the 2008 crash, averaging 7.4% throughout his term. Wars he promised to end slogged on in Iraq and Afghanistan. Guantanamo Bay, to the chagrin of many on the Left, remained open. And the only major legislative accomplishment he could point to was Obamacare, which only succeeded in exploding healthcare costs and insurance premiums. 

In 2010, the GOP won back the House in overwhelming fashion, adding a net gain of 63 seats. In 2014, the GOP took back the Senate. 

The 2016 election, however, provided the fatal blow to the former president’s legacy. He had convinced his vice president, Joe Biden, not to run, instead opting for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. For Obama, it was always about symbolism; handing off the first black presidency to the first female presidency was the ultimate checkmark for a party obsessed with identity. 

But then-candidate Donald Trump, the real estate mogul, reality TV star, and New York tabloid king who had never run for public office, had other ideas. Despite headwinds from a hostile media and Clinton out-raising him 2-to-1, President Trump would defeat her comfortably in the Electoral College by capturing the “Blue Wall” of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. 

Trump’s victory, like Obama’s in 2008, reflected what voters wanted most: change. Experience in government was seen as a liability, and the establishment (see: McCain, Romney, and Hillary) was seen as defenders of the status quo. 

Obama lost the House and Senate during his time in office. Despite being a former first lady, senator, and secretary of state, his handpicked candidate lost a race many thought was impossible to lose. 

In 2009, Obama’s party controlled both chambers of 27 state legislatures. Eight years later, Democrats controlled both chambers in only 13 states. 

During that stretch, the Democratic Party lost a net total of 13 Governorships and 816 state legislative seats, the most of any president since Eisenhower.

Upon leaving office, Obama didn’t follow in the same footsteps as President Jimmy Carter, who helped build thousands of homes through Habitat for Humanity. He purchased beachfront mansions on Martha’s Vineyard and Hawaii and a home near the White House. At his 29-acre Vineyard estate in 2021, Obama threw himself an elaborate 60th birthday party with hundreds of maskless guests inside a huge tent during the height of COVID-19. The Obamas also captured Emmy nominations for producing various Netflix projects after signing a multimillion-dollar deal. 

As their hometown of Chicago crumbles under bumbling socialist Mayor Brandon Johnson (currently at 14% approval, the lowest in the city’s mayoral history), the Obamas have almost been invisible in any attempt to save their hometown. Thanks to a mass exodus to red states, the Windy City’s population is at its lowest in a century. Its income and sales taxes remain among the highest in the country. Its unemployment rate, 5.2%, is well above the national average of 4.1%. Violent crime continues to be a major problem. 

Instead, the Obamas await the completion of their presidential library in Chicago, the biggest boondoggle in presidential history. A project on the city’s poorer South Side, once projected to cost $300 million, will likely eclipse $1 billion to complete. For context, W. Bush’s presidential library cost $250 million and didn’t exceed budget. The Obama library is already raising the rent of many apartments and homes in the surrounding area to the point that some residents have been forced to move out. By the time the center maybe opens in 2026, it will have taken more than a decade to finish and gone impossibly over budget.

As for the former first lady, let’s just say her podcast has been anything but inspiring, including her odd complaints about how tough life was while living in the White House. “You’re paying for every bit of food that you eat. You’re not paying for housing and the staff in it … but everything, even travel, if you’re not traveling with the president, if your kids are coming on a Bright Star, which is the first lady’s plane, we had to pay for their travel to be on the plane,” she whined recently. 

Goodness gracious. Food and first-class travel needed to be paid for? How did the family survive in this Gulag for eight years? 

Earlier this year, Michelle Obama also decided not to attend Carter’s funeral services, making her the only spouse not to attend among the Bushes, Clintons, or Trumps. As for the marriage itself and rumors of a possible divorce, Barack appeared on her podcast last week to assure everyone that everything was OK, which was patently awkward to listen to. 

Overall, the former first lady’s podcast, cohosted by her brother Craig Robinson, launched this year and, despite major hype, is ranked 78th in listenership on Spotify. For someone who has consistently been voted the most admired woman on the planet, this project is a profound failure. 

In the days leading up to the 2024 election, Barack Obama made the rounds in swing states, imploring black voters to vote for former Vice President Kamala Harris based on her gender and race. It was seen as sanctimonious because it was; Trump won a larger share of the black vote.

The Obama magic and influence are clearly gone. The Democratic Party is drifting further into the abyss without any true leader, clocking in at 19% approval, per Quinnipiac. 

NO ONE PROTESTED WHEN OBAMA’S ICE RAIDED OUR BUSINESS

One is a former president who can’t get anybody elected and wants 1 billion dollars as a shrine to his below-average presidency. The other is now a B-list podcaster.

How the mighty have fallen.