In 1999, Christopher Hitchens penned an acid reflection on the presidency of Bill Clinton, titled “No One Left To Lie To.” The verdict on the presidency of Barack Obama, at least during this campaign season, might be No One Left to Pander To. In three and a half years, we’ve gone from the “audacity of hope” to the “shameless palm grease.”

Shaken by the polls and unable to tout his accomplishments in office, the president has instead targeted giveaways to particular constituencies of the Democratic Party. We’ve gone from soaring to squalid. Women got free contraceptives and the invitation to believe that the Republicans had launched another war of choice — against women. College students got more subsidies for their loans. Gays got support for same-sex marriage. And Hispanics got the dubiously legal decision to forego deportations for certain illegal immigrants. Blacks and Jews haven’t been bribed yet, but perhaps that’s what comes of voting too reliably Democratic. (Supporters of Israel have long since been disappointed in this White House.)