This time around, President
Barack Obama's message can sound decidedly down-to-earth.
Four years after winning the
White House, Obama is dealing with a different economic and political reality as he seeks re-election. He's focused less on a lofty vision for overcoming divisions and remaking
Washington, and more on the most basic building blocks of middle-class economic security: a job, a house, a
college education for the kids,
health care, money for retirement.
What Obama describes as the
American Dream can seem a spare, fundamental aspiration, tailored for a campaign that looks to be fought over who is best equipped to safeguard the interests of middle-class Americans.