The economy had improved by 1996 much more than it had in 2012, but Clinton faced the exact same obstruction: not a single vote for either his deficit cutting budget or for his health care reform proposal. The same argument you mentioned against Obamacare was also raised in 1994: this isn't the time. The only difference then is that a large number of Republicans voted for NAFTA, which, although it was an initiative of George H W Bush, was modified by and passed under Bill Clinton.
Still, while the 90s was a good time for reform, even I think 2009-2010 was just the wrong time for that. In fact, I'd say that it is always the wrong time for the Affordable Care Act in particular. If we were going to blow that much political capital and suffer a 6 year backlash, we should have gone wild and not settled. I'd like to think Obama could have bought off the necessary Senators if he really wanted it.
Either way, I stand by what I said. I think Obama's two elections should probably even get their own threads, as there is a lot to talk about. He definitely seemed to accelerate a number of trends, some which worked against him and the Democratic Party quite a bit.
