Obama's "closing argument"

Barack Obama's campaign has been billing his speech later today in Canton, Ohio, as a "closing argument" to the American people.

If excerpts sent from the campaign this morning are any guide, there's a little - but not much - that voters haven't already heard. Obama notes, once more, how McCain's tax plan benefits the wealthy, how McCain shares George Bush's economic policies and philosophies, and how Obama's own proposals will result in tax cuts for Americans making less than $250,000.

Of note: Obama nods to McCain's recent warnings about big-government Democrats running Washington. Says Obama:

Understand, if we want get through this crisis, we need to get beyond the old ideological debates and divides between left and right. We don’t need bigger government or smaller government. We need a better government – a more competent government – a government that upholds the values we hold in common as Americans.

So where are those Obama sum-it-up moments? A couple of places:

In one week, you can turn the page on policies that have put the greed and irresponsibility of Wall Street before the hard work and sacrifice of folks on Main Street.

In one week, you can choose policies that invest in our middle-class, create new jobs, and grow this economy from the bottom-up so that everyone has a chance to succeed; from the CEO to the secretary and the janitor; from the factory owner to the men and women who work on its floor.

In one week, you can put an end to the politics that would divide a nation just to win an election; that tries to pit region against region, city against town, Republican against Democrat; that asks us to fear at a time when we need hope.

In one week, at this defining moment in history, you can give this country the change we need.

And this, which Republicans surely will attack as a "redistribution of wealth" promise:

What we have lost in these last eight years cannot be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits alone. What has also been lost is the idea that in this American story, each of us has a role to play. Each of us has a responsibility to work hard and look after ourselves and our families, and each of us has a responsibility to our fellow citizens. That’s what’s been lost these last eight years – our sense of common purpose; of higher purpose. And that’s what we need to restore right now.

Tell us what you think. We'll have details from McCain's economic speech shortly.

(Update: the full Obama speech.)