Obama to go big on detail in convention speech

The Greek columns may be banished and the “hope” and “change” signs gone, but US president Barack Obama’s pitch to voters at the Democratic National Convention this week echoes his 2008 speech, when he cast himself as a visionary leader in touch with the nation’s priorities.

Dogged by a sluggish economy and in a tight race with Republican rival Mitt Romney, Obama will use his time in the spotlight on Thursday to focus on education, tax cuts for those making less than $250,000 (€198,000), energy, immigration, and social issues, his advisers indicated.

By talking in more specific terms than Romney did last week, Obama’s team hopes to draw a contrast between the two men.