With the Democratic party in shambles, the legacy of its longtime spiritual leader, Barack Obama, is coming under close scrutiny.

According to a new book, some Democrats are blaming Obama for dividing the party with an egotistical focus on burnishing his own personal brand.

Obama "destroyed" party

While revered by the liberal base, Obama has long faced criticism from some Democrats over his go-it-alone approach. After he left office in 2017, Obama fell under scrutiny for being too absorbed in advancing his agenda instead of rebuilding a Democratic party that was starting to show signs of atrophy during his presidency, particularly at the state level.

Organizing For Action was launched at the start of Obama's second term with the aim of advancing his policy vision. It was the third iteration of Obama's grassroots army, which first emerged as Obama for America in 2008.

In the eyes of some Democrats, Obama's grassroots network was duplicative of the party's efforts and too focused on Obama's personal goals.

Indeed, some say Obama "destroyed" the Democratic party by placing it in direct competition with his organization, according to the book Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House.

“Though Organizing for Action never realized his vision, it competed with the party for power and money,” the book's authors, Jonathan Allen of NBC News and Amie Parnes of The Hill, said.

“He left the Democratic Party far weaker than he found it. Or, as one party operative put it, ‘Obama destroyed that s—.’”

Legacy in tatters

Although out of office for almost a decade, Obama has been an unusually active ex-president - and yet he hasn't always been a team player in the game of politics.

He found himself again at odds with the Democratic party during the tumultuous fallout from Joe Biden's debate blowout last summer, as Obama, after working behind the scenes to force Biden to end his re-election bid, initially refused to fall in line behind vice president Kamala Harris.

While Democrats would convince themselves that Harris had the magic of 2008 Obama, the former president doubted her talents. His begrudging endorsement did nothing to stop the outcome Obama feared: a decisive defeat, and Donald Trump's return to power.

With Obama's legacy on shakier ground than ever before, the 63-year-old recently attempted to reassert a leadership role by publicly denouncing President Trump's second term agenda.

But by now, some Democrats are probably beginning to wish he would just go away.