Obama Tells DNC Donors It's 'Liberating' as Second Term 'Concentrates the Mind'

President Obama told a DNC fundraiser in Miami yesterday that he’s experiencing “a liberating feeling” as his second term runs out “in the sense that the amount of time I have left, it concentrates the mind.”

“And I think a lot of folks have been surprised at the degree to which we are moving and pushing and trying whatever we can to advance the goals of making sure that every American in this country and every child in this country, if they’re willing to work hard, can get ahead, and that opportunity and prosperity is broad-based,” Obama told the $33,400 a head event for a few dozen well-heeled donors.

“But ultimately, an eight-year span in the life of a country is pretty short. We can get a lot done, but part of what we’re also doing is laying the foundation so that we then pass that baton to the next administration and we institutionalize some of the progress that we’ve been making,” he added. “And ultimately, how much staying power these things have depends on a Congress that is thinking about our future.”

“…This is not something I’m doing for me, this is something we are doing together. Because it’s going to be just the blink of an eye before I am, like you, a citizen, who has returned from office but still occupies the most important position in a democracy. And together I want us to make sure that we are doing everything we can to pass on the kind of America that gave us such incredible opportunity and allowed us to be here today.”

Obama said that “by almost every economic measure, by every economic measure, we are better off and, in some cases, significantly better off than when I came into office.”

“By almost every measure, this country has come bouncing back in ways that a lot of folks in 2009 might not have anticipated,” he said. “But what’s also true is, is that there is so much work that’s left undone, so many things we could be doing to make sure that more people have access to the ladders of opportunity that have been the hallmark of this country. If we pass immigration reform, that would not only improve our economy, drive down our deficit, but it would make sure that America continued to be a land — a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants where we’re attracting incredible talent and vitality from every corner of the globe.”