Obama '12: The record he’ll run on

[Geee]

The Hill:

President Obama is described — or demagogued, depending on your view — as many mutually exclusive things; he’s been called a left-wing or socialist ideologue, but also a pragmatist and post-partisan dealmaker.

The 44th president is more elusive than many of his predecessors, and yet the 2012 election will be all about him.

But even if the man himself is difficult to define, his achievements and failures with regard to his 2008 campaign promises are much more concrete.
Obama cannot be accused of being a do-nothing president; what is unclear is whether his progress toward his goals will hurt or help him.

Some of his crowning achievements — like healthcare reform — are not guaranteed vote-getters. And the lack of action in other areas — immigration reform, for instance — could ultimately be seen as politically prudent.

Other pledges, such as renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement or instituting a new assault weapons ban, seem to have been abandoned without great uproar from any quarter.

The famous aspiration to change Washington’s tone has foundered, though whether Obama will — or should — receive blame for this is very much open to question.

Meanwhile, his handling of an economy that was in crisis when he took office could overshadow all else.