Candidate Obama says: "The very core of what this country stands for is on the line."

◼ A strangely desperate new Obama campaign speech: Urgent, dramatic, about him - Investors Business Daily

After talking up his payroll tax cut in Pennsylvania Wednesday afternoon, Obama flew Air Force One to New York City for not one, not two, but three money gatherings from Gotham liberals.

As he does on regular collection runs to Los Angeles, Obama and his motorcade paralyzed Manhattan's pre-holiday traffic, already struggling with the evening's scheduled lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.

Here are several other points made by Obama to a possibly puzzled crowd assembled at the Gotham Bar and Grille:

"I've got to win in 2012."
"In order to finish the job, I'm going to have to have a second term."
"I need a couple more years to finish the job."
"I'm going to need another term to finish the job."

And in case anyone had missed the point, the ex-partial-term senator said, "I'm going to need a few more years to finish the job."
This was in one speech.

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