Obama Woos Middle Class with Folksy Drawl

President Obama has shifted to a more folksy rhetoric in his bid to win back the hearts of middle-class voters, almost half of whom felt that Obama didn't understand their problems at the beginning of this week. Despite coming from a middle-class background, Obama has struggled to connect with this constituency, particularly now that he's locked in what he calls "the bubble" of the White House, separated from regular life by cadres of Secret Service agents and private planes. Lately, Obama has taken a rhetorical page from former Presidents Clinton and Bush and distanced himself from the cool, polished speechifying that was once his hallmark. It's not just his feisty Friday tete a tete with GOP Congressional leaders either—in the last 10 days, Obama has traveled to Ohio, Maryland, Florida, and New Hampshire, droppin' gs with abandon, talkin' in analogies as relatable as a beer down at Smitty's, and tellin' stories about himself—like the 15 years he spent payin' off student loans to help voters understand that really, he's more like them than they think.