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Obama’s presidency so far: success or failure?

Obama was inaugurated as president on the crest of one of the most extraordinary political campaigns in living memory. Despite a divided electorate, on the road to the White House Obama proved himself a brilliant speaker and campaigner with a populist touch. Yet since arriving there, the magic seems to have evaporated.

Despite Obama’s grand ambition to heal the rifts of US politics into a more collegiate way of working, in the end his landmark legislation, the Affordable Care Act, passed without a single Republican vote. The divisions between right and left have grown ever wider, just as economic inequalities in American society have become starker in the wake of the global banking crisis. And at the extreme end of the Republican spectrum, the ultra-right Tea Party is gaining support with its volatile mix of Christian fundamentalism, xenophobia and anti-state individualism.

Now, most commentators are confidently predicting a rout in next month’s midterm elections, with the possibility of the Democrats losing control of Congress and even the Senate. The media’s prognosis may be bleak, but Obama and his devotees can take some comfort: it may not be accurate. Despite all the hope invested in him, has Obama failed?