The Atlantic

How Barack Obama Is Like Jim Harbaugh

Every football fan in the country understands that there can be dramatic improvement and still disappointment. But when it comes to assessing the 44th president’s legacy, people can’t seem to accept anything less than perfect.
Source: USA Today Sports / Reuters

As an Ann Arbor native and Michigan football fanatic, I’m one of hundreds of thousands who deeply appreciate coach Jim Harbaugh. In his two years, Michigan has gone from having a 5-7 record, with no national ranking and no bowl appearance, to two 10-3 seasons, a top 10 national power, and one of the best class of recruits for 2017. At the same time no Michigan fan—including Harbaugh—thinks this is good enough: Michigan lost to Ohio State twice. Enough said.

This simple concept of both appreciating that someone’s performance can be excellent even if things could still be better is not hard for any Michigan football fan—or, really, any football fan of any improving team—to grasp. Yet, when it comes to judging the performance of the economy under President Obama, this concept seems to be lost. Way too much political dialogue is forced into an absurd dichotomy that either the economy is flawless or Obama’s economic

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