A conservative defense of President Obama’s first term in office

During an appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, conservative John Avlon praised the job President Barack Obama has done during his two terms in office.

“We are ten days out and there is a sense that President Obama’s poll numbers are down,” said John Avlan. “They are around forty percent. So everyone is running away from Obama. Right? So perspective is the thing we have the least of in our politics. But let’s keep a reality check here. One thing about being a centrist, we can use an equal standard. The standard of executive leadership is, are things better when someone leaves office than when they entered? And as of today the country is in objectively better shape than it was when President Obama took the oath of office. In terms of jobs. In terms of the deficit. In terms of issues like the environment even working with the Republican Congress. And issue like gay rights, a gay civil rights movement where the country is much more united than we were in the past on this issue. So look, is he perfect? No.”

Here’s some video of Avlon’s remarks.