Ah. Because Hillary’s positions weren’t just like what Bernie supported, she’s “Republican Lite”?

Here’s a clue: the Democratic Party is not a monolithic organization. We do not subscribe to an unquestioned set of dogma. Within reason, we do not demonize those whose positions aren’t 100% in line with the progressive wing (the exception being MAGA-wannabe Tulsi Gabbard). We encourage debate. We understand that legislative compromise is an essential part of representative government, and that legislative compromise requires a degree of pragmatism.

But if you want a monolithic organization that subscribes to an unquestioned set of dogma, if you want to demonize anyone who strays from that dogma or dares to debate, if you believe that legislative compromise is a betrayal of everything you stand for, then there’s a party for that. Hint: they like to wear red hats made in China.

Here’s another clue: due to a special election in (I think) Massachusetts, President Obama — having taken office during a true economic meltdown — only held a majority in both houses for six months. During that six months he passed the stimulus (which from March ’09 to Jan. ’17 TRIPLED the stock market, and from Sep. ’10 to Jan. ’17 gave us the longest stretch of private-sector job growth in our nation’s history. During that time he also began work on the Affordable Care Act (which took a year of hearings and political wrangling to make happen)…and gave tens of millions of Americans access to affordable health insurance. Oh, and witness the sea change for the LGBTQ community during his tenure…due almost solely to his leadership, for once he came out in support of LGBTQ equality, those Dems who had been on the fence (and most of those who had opposed equality) agreed and stood with him as he bypassed the GOP-held Congress to ensure equality for all.

In other words, just what he accomplished in the above paragraph is enough to show he was the best president since FDR. Problem is, after all that, he had to deal with a divided Congress…and the GOP was determined to screw him over at every turn (see Citizens United and SCOTUS’ gutting of the Voting Rights Act).

President Obama did get us out of Iraq. The GOP has vilified him ever since for having done so, never mind that he did try to get our troops to stay there to stop the growth of an organization called ISIS — you may have heard of it. Iraq refused to allow our troops to stay unless they could be prosecuted under Iraqi law…and President Obama refused and pulled our troops out.

Why are we still in Afghanistan? I think that was a mistake, too…but at the same time, al Qaeda was still trying to rebuild, and the Taliban (who had been ruling the country when we invaded) were attacking our troops as well. So the choice President Obama faced was this: to cut and run (and save the lives of a relative few troops) and allow the Taliban to take over again, or to stay and try to help rebuild their nation and society like we did for other nations following WWII and the Korean War. It hasn’t worked…but the key is this: the decision wasn’t nearly as black-and-white as you seem to think.

You can hate on President Obama and Hillary Clinton all you want, but if we look at accomplishments as compared to obstacles faced, President Obama is easily the best president of your lifetime or mine. Part of the reason he was able to achieve as much as he did was because unlike many of my fellow progressives, he refused to be hidebound to a particular dogma or political philosophy…and Hillary played a big part in his success.