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Thursday, Jan 17, 2013 5:45 PM UTC

Four years in, shifts in Obama strategy, outlook

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Topics: From the Wires,

Four years in, shifts in Obama strategy, outlookFILE - These file photos, Oct. 7, 2009, left, and Nov. 28, 2012, right, shows President Barack Obama speaking in Washington. Four years after he was the fifth-youngest president to take the oath of office, Barack Obama now is 51, his hair more gray, his face more lined. The changes aren't all physical: As he enters Term Two, he is sounding more confident, vowing a harder line on negotiations, relying more on trusted allies, promising less, expressing more cynicism about the grip of partisanship on Washington. And perhaps most important, he seems more convinced of a need to keep the public with him, coming full circle to his people-driven 2008 campaign. (AP Photo, File)(Credit: AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Four years ago he was the fifth-youngest president to take the oath of office. Barack Obama now is 51, his hair more gray, his face more lined. And the changes in the president aren’t all physical.

As he enters Term Two, he is sounding more confident, vowing a harder line on negotiations, relying more on trusted allies, promising less and expressing more cynicism about the grip of partisanship on Washington.

And perhaps most important, he seems more convinced of a need to keep the public with him, coming full circle to his people-driven 2008 campaign.

More By Nancy Benac.

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