It’s a real toss-up; Obama has in fact deliberately obliterated the credibility of the Democrats. To be honest, I believe that the US needed two terms of Obama to wake up and grow up.
The USA woke up big time after the disastrous Jimmy Carter. But the USA of 1980 doesn’t exist anymore. The demographics are much different today - with far too many voters having dual loyalties or no loyalty vis a vis the USA.