WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama is dropping the qualifications that tempered his economic message last year, choosing a bullish new pitch that the recovery is strong and widespread.
In recent days he has had a recurrent message: “American resurgence is real. Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.”
Obama’s retooled message comes as the public begins to warm to the economy. An AP-GfK poll last month found negative perceptions of the economy overall are down compared with four years ago, with 57 percent describing it as “poor” compared with 83 percent who did in November 2010.
Despite multiple signs the recovery is indeed taking hold, some are saying otherwise – from conservatives to liberals in Obama’s own Democratic Party who point to stagnant wages and a yawning income gap between rich and poor.