Conservatives would gladly vote for a Ben Carson, or a Herman Cain or an Allen West because they would fit in with their pro-business, low-tax agenda. On the other hand, They certainly wouldn't care much for Colin Powell, even though he's Republican.

No, the reason they hated Obama wasn't because he was black, it was because so many white voters didn't care he was black. This told them that they could no longer rely on the racist vote as a firewall against liberal politicians, a counterweight to the Black and Latino vote. They realized they had to discredit him from the start, keep him "a one-term president", to obstruct and block his every policy and appointment, even those they had once supported in the past.

The strategy was to prevent him from getting anything done, even if it meant threatening real danger to the country's financial health, credit, infrastructure, even defense. They wouldn't even define and extend his war making powers to strengthen his hand in Syria.

Well, he's leaving in less than a year, with a fairly good record, considering how little support he's gotten from Congress. And the Republican party is in shambles.

Thanks, Obama.