Keller @ Large: Obama's Legacy Was One Reason Why Trump Was Elected
BOSTON (CBS) - All politicians - how can I put this politely - like to put their spin on events, even if that spin is the polar opposite of the truth.
We just elected as president one of the most egregious whopper-tellers in modern-day political history, but he has plenty of company when it comes to that practice.
Consider a comment President Obama made Tuesday in Greece as he began his final foreign trip. Asked at a news conference if he feels at all responsible for Trump's victory, the president side-stepped the question by saying he doesn't take responsibility for Donald Trump's words or actions. And he went on to say "I can make a pretty strong argument that the policies we put forward were the right ones, that... The country is indisputably better off and those folks who voted for the president-elect are better off than they were when i came into office, for the most part."
With all due respect, is he kidding?
There is no reasonable doubt that this election was in large part a referendum on the Obama presidency.
Trump almost never failed to disparagingly reference Obama in his campaign appearances, and specifically and repeatedly attacked his handling of health care reform, the war on terror, foreign trade deals and the Iran nuclear agreement, vowing to overturn them all.
And Obama himself explicitly campaigned on the notion that a vote for Hillary Clinton was a vote to continue his work. "Make no mistake, my policies are on the ballot," I heard him say more than once.
The president can say what he wants about why Trump won. But he can't say the Obama years aren't part of the answer, and expect us to buy it.