WASHINGTON (AP) – People remember the hope and the history. For him or against him, they picture candidate Barack Obama as the one who stood on stage in a football stadium in Denver and accepted the Democratic presidential nomination by declaring “It’s time for us to change America.”

Forgotten, it seems, is what Obama said when he actually won.

“The road ahead will be long,” he said solemnly that November night in Chicago, displaying none of the euphoria of his supporters. “Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year, or even one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.”