In an interview on Monday with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, President Obama called himself an “underdog.”
Responding to Stephanopoulos’ query if the odds were against him given the current economic situation, the President replied “Absolutely. I’m used to being the underdog. But at the end of the day people are going to ask — who’s got a vision?”
Recent polls peg Obama’s job approval rating at around 40 percent. Only 37% of Americans believe he will be re-elected.
While conceding that the current unemployment rate is “way too high” at 9%, and that the American people are “not better off” than they were four years ago, Obama seemed confident that he had the right ideas to lead the country.
Ultimately, he said, the 2012 election would be a “contest of values and vision.”
“At the end of the day,” Obama pointed out, “people are going to ask — who’s got a vision.”
The president held up his American Jobs Act as an example of that vision, arguing that it would put construction workers, teachers, and veterans to work while giving “more consumers more confidence.”
Obama pointed to the intransigence of the Republican party, contrasting their consistent rejections with his multitude of proposals. “At every step of the way, have tried to get the Republican Party to work with me on the biggest crisis of our lifetime. And each time we’ve gotten ‘No,'” he said.
The interview was the first under the new alliance between ABC News and Yahoo! News. All the questions, were submitted by internet viewers, and 40,000 were submitted overall. There was even a question from GOP candidate Mitt Romney.
