Yeah the Ds aren't in great shape but I'm not sure how much of that Obama is responsible for.
I see a few reasons for the fall.
The D party itself. It's hard to differentiate yourself from the pro-war, pro-business, pro-corporate elite, pro-Israel, Republican party when you are a pro-war, pro-business, pro-corporate elite, pro-Israel party yourself. The R's do those things better and are at least honest about it (about those things anyway).
The massive Conservative propaganda network The last few years have seen political propaganda explode and the R's are just damned-good at feeding the rage. Sure we had right-wing talk-radio in the Clinton era but that seems small-potatoes to today's standards. Talk radio is still there and has probably expanded some but now we've added the All-R-All-the-Time Fox Propaganda Network, the various conservative Internet sites, the NRA, the fake video Planned-Parenthood-like scammers, evangelical small-town preachers, etc.. all feeding the hate.
Obama was unique D for the R's to unite their various factions against. Finding a common enemy is a great way to unite a group and Obama is a perfect storm of Liberal, Black, Muslim/foreign-sounding-name that the propaganda network could hit hard.
I live in the arm-pit of Indiana and when he won in 2008 the natives really were scared to death. The financial crisis was in full swing and the R's propaganda had convinced the natives that it happened because the big-bad "Government" had forced the banks to make loans to "Those People". With Obama they had a Black, Muslim, Marxist, Kenyan president who was coming for their guns and bibles. They were scared and fighting back. Guns sales went through the roof. Tea-Party like groups were forming. They were preparing for war really. As one of my friends put it,... "They think the n....s are coming." If Obama had been a black woman we might have seen open, armed revolt in some areas.
Obama hurt himself with some policy choices. Obamacare public option, continuing the Wars, letting the banks off the hook, trying to compromise with the crazy R's, etc. A more progressive stance with more appeal to the people might have worked better. Reagan would have gone on TV, looked the people in the eye, convinced them them that he had the answer, and asked for their support. Obama never really got his message to the people of this area.
The D party should get some blame here though. Again, it's hard to beat the R's when you are R-light.
tnb
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