Is Obama the reason Democrats are now ‘underdogs’?

While neither the last-but-one Republican president nor the last pre-Trump nominee appeared at the GOP convention, the DNC has been only too happy to dust off its former standard-bearers, starting with Barack Obama who gave the keynote speech on Tuesday evening.

Obama’s theme last night was much less rosy than “Hope and Change” and the Sorkin-esque homilies about “the arc of history” which sounded so soothing 16 years ago. Instead, the former president sounded a somewhat more fearful note, making clear that “it will be a fight [over] a closely divided country.” He urged his listeners: “Do not boo — vote,” and issued a warning against complacency in the face of an existential threat to democracy.

This echoes Obama’s belief that Democrats are “the underdogs” of this race. Yet the sight of the 44th president, to be followed tomorrow by the 42nd, also invites reflection on the trajectory the party has taken since their respective campaigns. For the challenges now facing Kamala Harris as she attempts to assemble a winning coalition arguably have their roots in the political choices made during the Obama and Clinton eras.