Obama frames populist theme for Dems in 2014

[steve2470]

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/speech-obama-seeks-unify-democrats-2014



WASHINGTON (AP) — Striking a decidedly partisan tone, President Barack Obama sought Friday to define this year's elections as a stark choice between Republicans pushing failed policies from a bygone era and Democrats advocating freedom and opportunity for all Americans.

Rallying the party faithful at a Democratic National Committee summit, Obama rattled off a list of issues where he said Republicans were stuck in the past: gay rights, women's equality, wages and health care, to name a few. Driving the midterm election campaigns across the country this year, he said, is a fundamental disagreement between the parties about the best way to secure America's future.

"What they are offering is not a new theory," Obama said, asserting that Republicans had advocated the same policies in the run-up to the Great Depression, the recent recession and the 2012 election. "And the American people said, "No, thanks.'"

In a boisterous speech, Obama seized the opportunity to mock Republicans — to the delight of the Democratic officials, donors and activists who packed a hotel ballroom near the White House. While acknowledging early setbacks in rolling out his health care law, Obama ridiculed his political foes for trying time and again to repeal the law.