rally support or pass legislation simply by being President or by making enough speeches. Your emotions may tell you this is true, but the evidence shows this rarely works ( see this too ). This article isn't a long excuse for Obama; it's a brief look at his accomplishments to point out that the media aversion to policy details means much of what Obama achieved has gone under the radar. That said, I fully expect some people to scream betrayal at a centre-left President: every Democrat president in the last 70 years has faced such accusations from his own side : from FDR and Lyndon Johnson to Kennedy, Carter and Bill Clinton. Obama is no exception. He will never be as radical as some want him to be. And while the national security and civil liberty agenda has been a disappointment in parts, they don't overshadow his record on poverty, healthcare and elsewhere. But despite inheriting the worst economy in 80 years; despite a Republican opposition obstructing him at unpredented levels; despite his racial heritage losing him votes ; despite facing a hostile media and a well-organised, well-financed Tea Party movement -- he managed to go further than his predecessors. Even if he is not re-elected, President Obama will leave behind a very important legacy. Reader comments No doubt Obama's reversal of George W's revisionist foreign policy dressed in idealist clothing that squandered the symathy that accrued to the US following 9/11 and turned the US into an international pariah