He has changed plenty, and none of it for the good of the country.

(Reuters) — President Barack Obama asked U.S. voters on Wednesday to keep believing in the “hope and change” he promised in 2008, saying he needed more time to turn America around.

At a series of fundraisers in New York, where he raised more than $2 million for his campaign and those of other Democrats, Obama acknowledged frustration over the stalemate in Washington that has soured views of his leadership.

“After all that is happening in Washington, it may be tempting to believe that change may not be as possible as we thought,” he told supporters.

But he told them the stakes were too high to give up hope, saying Republicans would unwind much of his agenda and put the country on a starkly different path.

“If you are willing to keep pushing through all the frustrations that we may see . . . change will come,” he said. “Press on, everybody.”