Though perhaps if Biden lost in 2016 we would’ve had Hilary running in 2020, and who knows if she would’ve won that one. Then we could be approaching Trump’s 3rd term (with help from his friends in the Supreme Court) with Russia chewing through Ukraine and on their way to Eastern Europe, a fractured NATO alliance, and probably some other unimaginable horrors.

With Trump running in 16, 20, and 24, I don’t know if there’s a timeline change that would prevent 2024 from being an absolute clusterfuck. Unless maybe RBG had retired during Obama’s term as she should have.

Also if we are to blame Obama for anything, it should be for him discouraging Biden not to run in 2016 over Hillary

Deeper than that. Obama inherited the party infrastructure Howard Dean built as DNC chair that was effective at state and local levels. That infrastructure completely fell apart after Obama loyalists took over the party after 2008. Dean ran a 50 state strategy and had built the party to support lower level candidates and contest elections Democrats had traditionally ignored. Post Obama the party shifted back to a focus on marquee races that didn’t really provide support to state parties and startup candidates.

That’s genuinely the single biggest Obama fuckup that doesn’t really get talked about much because it’s very insider baseball. But it’s had very real effects on how Democrats have failed in lower level elections in the years since, which has percolated up into everything else since.

Biden likely would win in 2016. The reason why is that unlike Hillary who was already paid as an elitist, Biden has the support of blue collar workers.

obama and pelosi both agree that biden should step down

As the party’s elder statesman, it is Obama’s job to say what he thinks about party issues. But, his silence is a form of communication. It says that he basically agrees with what is happening to his old buddy Joe. Obama could have ended this a week ago by coming out 4 Square for Joe while urging party unity. He did not.