Obama Replaces “Yes, We Can” with “Forward”

President Barack Obama’s campaign team, candidate to his own succession in November, launched a new slogan, “Forward,” on Monday to conclude a video summarizing the achievements of his first term.

This video of more than seven minutes, posted on video sharing site YouTube on the brink of a week that will see Obama participate in his first two major election rallies on Saturday, makes only passing reference to Mitt Romney, who is expected to carry the Republican colors in the election.

However, it pilloried the Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, and accused Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of obstructionism, along with conservative commentators like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

Republicans accused of wanting to “go back”

Obama’s team, who in 2008 used the slogans “hope” and “change,” as well as “change we can believe in” and the famous “yes we can,” had seemed, to date, to struggle to find a catch phrase as powerful to use during this election cycle.

“Forward” echoed Obama’s accusations of his Republican opponents for wanting to “go back” by adopting budgetary and fiscal policies similar to those of President George W. Bush, who was held responsible for the crisis in 2008.

A flattering video

If the video is a compilation of the most flattering aspects of Obama’s record, such as rescuing the U.S. auto industry, the end of the war in Iraq, health insurance reform and guidance on Wall Street, it has chosen to overlook those who are angry and serve as an argument for Mitt Romney: high unemployment, an unprecedented debt and annual budget deficits exceeding 1 trillion dollars since the beginning of the Obama presidency.