[protomyth]

"Obama could have been special."

I have a honest question, did you read his voting record, see what bills he had wrote / sponsored / co-sponsored, or listen to his podcast[1] before deciding he was worth your hope for that symbol? The media narrative for both sides is smoke and mirrors. The only real truth is what the do in legislation.

1) Yes, he had one as a US Senator.

[superuser2]

What they do in legislation isn't the full story, either. People vote against bills that sound like good ideas because there's something nasty subtly buried inside them. People vote for bad bills to collect votes for good ones.

Someone who kept a pristine voting record would not actually get anything done.

[protomyth]

Yes, the legislative system is has its game, but sponsorship and co-sponsorship tells a lot. Most legislators tell folks what their vote meant and most bill titles are fantasy. You need to look deeper than the soundbite to determine what the legislative record means.