The Republican domination of state legislatures in the country is due to Republicans' very successful organization of these districts and their work has pushed many state legislatures from the Democratic column to the Republican column. Blaming President Obama for this is ignoring the fact that Democrats have completely ignored state legislatures for far too long and never recognized the importance of keeping these chambers for the Democrats.
Of course. No one would dispute that. Nevertheless, both Obama's personality and his politics played an important role: he is, surely, not among the strongest (and smartest) presidents. FDR will remain an ideal for me on both counts. Obama is not FDR.... (remember "Senator, you are not Jack Kennedy"?)
I'd say Obama is plenty smart, but he's doesn't have a strong stomach for being a Washington Operator, which has reflected in a relative lack of accomplishments.
