Obama was never really popular or liked as a President. Just like people are dodging and lying to pollsters today, people were not going to say they thought the first black President was a huge disappointment by almost every measure.
They lied when they said they approved of Obama - the biggest case of the bigotry of low expectations plus fear of being branded a witch—I mean, racist.
“That’s so good for a black President.” #sad
I liked Obama, but only for the reasons you mentioned. Looking back, the stuff I heard from him was all heavily censored and light. Hearing him talk at John Lewis’ funeral, he’s pretty much a political powerhouse and not at all the peaceful loving jokester portrayed on tv during his presidency.