Can Barack Obama be credited for the blue wave? Perhaps – but others fathered this success

The former US president’s centrism lacks substance but his enduring political capital has given rank outsiders the chance to spark radical political change • Don’t get The Long Wave delivered to your inbox? Sign up here A blue wave has surged in the United States. It has been a week since the Democrats hammered the Republicans and regained majorities in the House and the Senate, and the credit for that is, shall we say, a matter of debate. Success has many fathers. One of them is Barack Obama, the first to break the kind of barriers a new generation of Democrats has overcome. This week, I follow what can and cannot be traced to the man who still holds a unique position in the liberal political imaginary, almost a decade after leaving the White House. Continue reading...