CHARLOTTE, N.C. — President Barack Obama will outline his vision for America after another for years of his presidency tonight, with an emphasis on creating manufacturing and energy jobs.
In his speech accepting the renomination of his party for another term in the White House, Obama will identify with the overwhelming majority of Americans who are concerned by the economy, saying he needs more time to get the country back on track.
"It will take more than a few years for us to solve challenges that have built up over decades," Obama will say, according to excerpts provided by his campaign. "It will require common effort, shared responsibility, and the kind of bold, persistent experimentation that Franklin Roosevelt pursued during the only crisis worse than this one."
Obama will try to frame the election as a referendum on the major decisions on taxes, spending, deficits, and job creation that Washington lawmakers will have to make over the next several months and years.
“But when all is said and done," Obama will say, "When you pick up that ballot to vote – you will face the clearest choice of any time in a generation. Over the next few years, big decisions will be made in Washington, on jobs and the economy; taxes and deficits; energy and education; war and peace – decisions that will have a huge impact on our lives and our children’s lives for decades to come."
The campaign released an outline of Obama's second term promises that he will make in his acceptance speech, many of them catering to the working class swing voters who are still struggling, even as the Great Recession is three years in the rear-view mirror.
President Obama’s Goals for America
Tonight President Obama will ask the country to rally around a set of goals on manufacturing, energy, education, national security, and the deficit – a real, achievable plan that will create jobs, expand opportunity, and ensure an economy built to last.
Manufacturing
· Create one million new manufacturing jobs by the end of 2016
· Double exports by the end of 2014
Energy
· Cut net oil imports in half by 2020
· Support 600,000 natural gas jobs by the end of the decade
Education
· Cut the growth of college tuition in half over the next 10 years
· Recruit 100,000 math and science teachers over the next 10 years
· Train two million workers for real jobs at community colleges
National Security
· Invest in the economy with the money we’re no longer spending on war
Deficit
· Reduce the deficit by more than $4 trillion over the next decade