WASHINGTON (AP) — As a candidate, Barack Obama vowed to bring a different,  better kind of leadership to the dysfunctional capital. He’d make government  more efficient, accountable and transparent. He’d rise above the “small-ball”  nature of doing business. And he’d work with Republicans to break Washington  paralysis.

You can trust me, Obama said back in 2008. And — for a while, at least — a  good piece of the country did.