Will Americans buy Obama's renewed economic focus?

Speeches are nice, but...

Obama
(Image credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Barack Obama has a new second-term agenda: the economy, said Jennifer Epstein at Politico. This week, the president kicked off a cross-country tour on the topic, starting with an address at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill. His message — "a better bargain for the middle class and folks wanting to join it," as he put it — is "similar to the one he campaigned on in 2012 and highlighted at the start of his second term." He blames congressional Republicans for thwarting his aims, and he knows that "more fiscal fights are ahead," including another battle over the debt ceiling. "But on this front and others, Obama said he will keep trying to work with Republicans, and will take executive actions wherever he can."

The president's pivot toward the economy looks like a "preliminary effort" at shaping his second-term legacy, said Jennifer Skalka Tulumello at The Christian Science Monitor. He's out "to claim credit for a modestly improving job market, while reiterating his administration's focus on fighting for America's middle class." This tack also gives him a chance to distance himself from Washington's brawls over immigration and gun control reform, and to skip away from the debate over race relations and the George Zimmerman trial. But tooting his horn over the economy "is a sales job that comes with risks." After all, he can hardly claim the job market has "roared back to full function."

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Sergio Hernandez is business editor of The Week's print edition. He has previously worked for The DailyProPublica, the Village Voice, and Gawker.