President Barack Obama on Thursday evening tried to convince skeptical Americans that something really can be done.
"The next election is 14 months away. And the people who sent us here - the people who hired us to work for them - they don't have the luxury of waiting 14 months," Obama said.
But the Republican primary campaign is already well underway and no matter what the president says in Washington, out here it may not be selling.
"But I'm telling you the promises and platitudes we're going to hear are not going to cut it. This is about an administration that is the problem," Gov. Rick Perry said.
President Obama's jobs plan expands payroll tax cuts to employers and employees, spends $140 billion to help teachers and first responders keep their jobs along with stimulating infrastructure spending. It gives employers tax credits for new hires, and Obama promises to cut spending to pay for it all.
Sixteen times in his speech, President Obama said Congress should "pass this jobs bill."
After the speech, Republican congressional leaders called it an Obama re-election plan, and Gov. Perry issued a statement saying it offered little hope. Politically speaking though, a campaign focused on jobs is right where Perry wants it.
"What America needs is jobs," Perry said. "I know how to create jobs."
He talks about it all the time and a likely protracted battle over the president's new plan only gives him more time to discuss his jobs record.
"Mr. President, we cannot spend our way to prosperity," Perry said.
