How Obama’s political fortunes predict his economic message

Three years later, with his party’s setback in the 2010 election, the president dropped the talk of inequality again. Years of partisan battles with Congress and a hot, slow march toward passing the Affordable Care Act had bruised the president’s political standing. Voters told pollsters he was more liberal than they’d hoped when they voted for him in 2008. He had also damaged his reputation with the business community. So in December 2010, Obama traveled to Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem and spoke of a generational challenge. He said that in the global race for competitiveness the country faced a Sputnik moment. He mentioned China 10 times and India three. He returned to listing statistics that showed how other countries had outpaced America. Instead of talking about inequality, the president talked about trade, tax reform, and investments in education that would allow America to thrive in the world. The speech, given a month before the State of the Union, was a warm-up for that big speech and would be a template for 2011, his aides said at the time.

By the end of 2011, this generation’s test was no longer global competition but—you guessed it!—confronting inequality. The president was framing the battle for the 2012 presidential election, which the Obama team wanted to be about who would work hardest for the middle class. The speech was an effort to echo his 2007 speech to Wall Street, which several of Obama’s longtime aides considered one of his best, on par with his speech at the 2004 Democratic convention. Top political strategist David Axelrod considers it the closest expression of Obama’s true self. It’s a theme the president returned to this week, saying that it would give shape to his remaining years in office.

For Democrats—off their game after two months of healthcare.gov headaches—the tack back to inequality and middle-class woes is a welcome one. Everyone can get back to singing from the same song sheet. It’s a message that worked well for President Obama in 2012.