Over the next few days, we will read a lot of articles about President Obama.

We will hear from his supporters that he saved us from a Great Depression, and his critics will say he messed up everything in the Middle East.

We may also read that he leaves office with high approval ratings.  In fact, the RCP average is 54%, a very good number.

We probably won't hear a lot about the state of the Democratic Party.  Looking back, President Obama's real legacy is that he devastated the party after all the hope of 2008.  This is from Deroy Murdock:

Behold the tremendous power that Democrats have frittered away — from January 2009 through the aftermath of Election Day — thanks to Obama and his ideas:

Democrats surrendered the White House to political neophyte Donald J. Trump.

U.S. Senate seats slipped from 55 to 46, down 16 percent.

U.S. House seats fell from 256 to 194, down 24 percent.

Democrats ran the Senate and House in 2009. Next year, they will control neither.

Governorships slid from 28 to 16, down 43 percent.

State legislatures (both chambers) plunged from 27 to 14, down 48 percent

Trifectas (states with Democrat governors and both legislative chambers) cratered from 17 to 6, down 65 percent.

These numbers only tell part of the story.

His real legacy is that it will be very difficult for any future Democrat to propose a government solution to anything.  My guess is that we will now enter an era where most of the solutions to these problems will come from governors and state legislatures.  We will look to the states rather than the federal government.  This is partially because most Americans are now living in a state where a successful GOP governor is delivering results, from Texas to Florida to Michigan.

Also, President Obama's weakness overseas has convinced most Americans that the U.S. must lead, not just watch events.  Our choice is not between doing nothing and sending 500,000 troops.  Our real option is to lead and behave like the superpower President Obama did not realize that he was governing.

We wish President Obama a happy retirement.  I hope he is ready to see how much of his legacy turned out to be very different from what his followers predicted eight years ago this week.

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