On the thread topic, Americans (and liberals in particular) should be pleased with the following changes since Obama took office:
1. Immigration; intensity of opposition from 2007 has at least been halved, with many conservative thought leaders and actual Hill leaders supporting the effort, tons of lobbying from outside groups like the Chamber of Commerce & FWD (and in the case of Tea Party groups like Heritage Action, SCF, etc., staying out of the immigration fight shows a huge reversal from just 6 years ago). Senate immigration bill got a third of Republicans and HOR will simply bend to that will sooner or later, particularly given Boehner's positive posture on it (despite his recent funny reversal). Remember, Repubs weren't even imagining immigration reform with this POTUS until the November 2012 shellacking.
2. Gay marriage issue and gay rights have taken a complete reversal since 2008. Public opinion polls are all solidly in favor, something that
was not the case 5 short years ago. There are now
17 states that allow same sex marriage, with a new state seemingly overruling anti-gay laws as unconstitutional every couple months, not including 3 additional states (Utah, Okalahoma & Virginia) that have struck down anti-gay marriage laws that are stayed due to appeal. Compare this to the
three! states that had legal gay marriage when Obama admin took office in January 2009. Quite a turnaround.
3. Healthcare, specifically the giant leap toward universal coverage that the ACA represents, potentially the final stepping stone before single payer comes about (which may or may not happen, but it's undeniably going in that direction). With the individual components of the law still
vastly more popular than not, particularly among those who actually know what's in the law, the continued expansion of Medicaid in Republican states and the near certainty of tens of millions of additional covered Americans by the 2016 elections, and it's clear the law will both not be repealed and will be popular by a large majority just as SS & Medicare have become.
4. Financial reform, with regs like the Volcker rule, reserve ratios, etc. tightening the risks banks can engage in WRT lending activities. This is something that has been sorely needed and at the very least Dodd-Frank was a massively positive step in the right direction. Gone are the Republican attempts to repeal it, and the public overwhelmingly supports both the spirit and the
actual law itself, particularly in
not wanting bailouts. Dodd-Frank looked as if it was going to be watered down as recently as 2012, but by last year with many of the rules near completion and implementation it's clear financial reform and record fines regulators have brokered with the big banks
Chase et al) have undeniably sent a chill through the reckless precincts of certain financial institutions. I say this is quite a welcome change from just before the 08 collapse, given the mess these turds put the world economy in later that year.
Now how much you attribute that directly to his administration (laws passed, his AG Holder, his executive actions, etc.) is open to debate, though the trend is undeniably liberal.