EDITOR'S NOTE — An introduction to The Associated Press' "Obama's IOUs" series, examining the president's top campaign promises, their chances of being kept and their likely impact on people if achieved.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Presidential campaigns are long in the making, quick to be forgotten. But one part of them lives on for years: the victor's promises.

President Barack Obama paved his path to re-election with fewer promises than in 2008. The ones he did lay down, though, are meaty, legacy-shaping for him and consequential to ordinary lives today and for generations to come, for better or worse.

They also are extraordinarily difficult to achieve in a time of gridlock grief and budgets that are tight when they are not paralyzed.

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