No one will ever accuse Obama of being too modest.

Via The Hill:

President Obama bragged the nation was “better off now than we were five years ago” while touting the economic recovery in a campaign-style speech on Wednesday in Denver, arguing administration officials have made some “pretty smart policies.”

“The decisions we made early on not only stopped the slide, but they built a new foundation for our economy, and they’re paying off,” Obama proudly declared during an economic speech intended to rally a reticent Democratic base.

The president has seen his popularity fade in his second term, besieged by crises abroad and controversies over mismanagement at federal agencies like the VA and IRS.

But on Wednesday, Obama urged his supporters not to buy into the “cottage industry in Washington that counts on you just getting cynical about stuff.” In one of the strongest embraces of his economic record to date, Obama argued some “pretty smart policies” offered by his administration had resulted in the biggest jobs boom since the 1990s.