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President Obama, accused by his Republican opponents of making a rocky economy worse, used his third State of the Union address to argue to tens of millions of prospective voters that he is the leader with the passion for fairness, and the policy vision, to deliver an "America built to last."

The president wrapped that phrase around his efforts to revive an economy still deeply shaken by a housing bubble, corporate excesses pegged to complex financial bets and borrowed money, and rules seemingly rigged against the little guy. “The state of our Union is getting stronger,” the president assured Americans who consistently tell pollsters they have lost confidence in the country’s direction.

If Obama is to win a second term, he has said he must persuade voters he can deliver tangible and durable prosperity -- and soon.

“Built to last” is a phrase President Reagan first used in an economic speech in October 1982, when the country battled high inflation and soaring interest rates. During a prime-time address, Reagan explained that the “big difference between the recovery America is headed for today and the shaky, temporary recoveries of the recent past: This one is built to last.”

He added, “This time, we're going to keep inflation, interest rates and government spending, taxing and borrowing down, and get Americans back on the job.”

Three years after his inauguration and months after a dramatic turnaround from political centrist to populist, Obama on Tuesday night became a bit of a thief. He borrowed that Reagan phrase, lifted Teddy Roosevelt’s “fair deal” constructs from the turn of the century, evoked President Clinton’s 1996 assertion that “we can’t go back to the era of fending for yourself” -- and followed Harry Truman’s mode that an embattled president stymied by lawmakers can and should campaign against them.

“We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by,” Obama said, “or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules. What’s at stake are not Democratic values or Republican values, but American values.”

Obama’s speech, studded with policy initiatives both new and recycled, was also a political blueprint, consciously drawn to contrast with the Republican challengers who are slashing their way through this year’s primary contests. The next one takes place in Florida in just one week. The White House and Obama’s campaign team still believe Mitt Romney has the best shot to become the GOP nominee, despite Newt Gingrich’s current surge. Using an annual Washington ritual and more than an hour of uninterrupted TV coverage, Obama laid down his markers for those watching.