CHARLOTTE, N.C. (MCT) — Four years after riding a wave of optimism into the White House, Barack Obama offered a more sobering message about the future as he asked Americans for another term to help complete the country’s recovery from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Accepting the 2012 Democratic nomination Thursday night, Obama offered an updated version of the message of hope and change that brought him to office in the first place. He said that he’d been humbled by the burdens of his office and told millions watching on TV that he feels the sorrows of ordinary Americans who have lost loved ones in war or their homes or jobs to the recession.