After a presidential election decided by Rust Belt voters' Republican shift, it's an opportune time to evaluate President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election promise to "double American exports over the next five years."

Barring miraculous growth before the inauguration of Donald Trump, Obama will fall short.

In 2012, U.S. exports in goods and services amounted to $2.2 trillion. That rose slightly in 2013 and 2014 before falling back a bit to $2.3 trillion in 2015. The final data for 2016 isn't in yet, but projecting based on the numbers through September, the total is on track to hit somewhere around, or slightly above, $2.2 trillion.

That's far from doubling. It's barely keeping pace with 2012 levels.

Looking instead at goods alone -- not services -- the totals actually faltered between 2012 and 2016.

Goods alone went from $1.6 trillion in 2012, 2013 and 2014 to $1.5 trillion in 2015 and possibly as low as $1.4 trillion in 2016. That's a decrease over five years.

No matter how you slice it, this is a Promise Broken.