In the summer of 2014, Chuck Todd, who is paid to say words about politics on television, declared that he had looked at poll results and that the American people had decided that the Obama Administration was “over.” Nice try, Barack, no point going on, it’s done. Chuck Todd had decided.

The problem with focusing only on the horse race is that you end up stepping into a lot of horseshit. The President accomplished a few things since Todd’s declaration. You don’t have to agree with any of them to understand the efficacy of the office despite what the chattering classes of Washington might say.

• Brain Initiative launched.

• Climate pact with China.

• Affordable Care Act upheld by the Supreme Court.

• Gay marriage legalized.

• Passage of fast-track trade authority TPP.

• Diplomatic relations with Cuba restored.

• International agreement to curtail Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

• Eulogy delivered for the Charleston church shooting victims.

• Commutation of more sentences for non-violent criminals as part of a broader attempt to reconfigure the country’s prison state.

• Continued economic recovery with job creation each quarter.