… Mr. Obama was a great policy maker, but not a great party builder. In the face of Republican intransigence, he still managed to get things done. But the strategies that made him successful — passing legislation by the narrowest partisan majority, refraining from boasting about what his reforms accomplished and, in the end, falling back on executive orders — are exactly what make his legacy so vulnerable.
Congressional Democrats frequently complained that the president’s approach put them at risk. Seeking to expand government with a hidden hand, his policies were designed in such a way that made it hard for Democrats to claim credit for them. CONT.
Julian E. Zelizer (Princeton), New York Times