Obama’s Party Building Legacy Splits Democrats

Politico: “A painful Democratic rift over Barack Obama’s political legacy is finally bursting into the open. For years, the former president’s popularity among Democrats stifled any public critiques of his stewardship of the party — a period in which the party suffered tremendous losses at the state and local levels.”

“But now that Obama and the political operation that succeeded his campaign, Organizing For Action, have expressed interest in playing a role in the task of rebuilding, it’s sparking pitched debates over how much blame he deserves for the gradual hollowing out of a party that now has less control of state elected positions than at any other time in nearly a century.”

Jonathan Swan: “After eight years of Obama, Democrats are learning how to be in the opposition. And they’ve now got powerful new tools, lessons from the Tea Party movement, and authentic national rage to be tapped.”