Yet the election that was a disaster for the president's party may have had a rejuvenating effect on Obama. People close to Obama say he is energized at not having to worry about helping — or hurting — Democrats in another congressional election on his watch. [...] pillars of Obama's second-term agenda — gun control, raising the federal minimum wage, universal pre-school— seem destined to stand unfulfilled. Even supporters say one of the president's top remaining priorities may have to be simply preventing Republicans from dismantling his earlier accomplishments, including the health care law. Before the midterm election results arrived, Obama's advisers say, the president realized he would finish his presidency with Republicans running Capitol Hill. The feeble HealthCare.gov website stabilized, but scandal enveloped the Department of Veterans Affairs. Syria got rid of its chemical weapons, but a violent extremist group pulled the U.S.