Obama gives himself an "incomplete" on the economy -- no letter grade

(CBS News) Reminded that he once said his presidency would be a "one-term proposition" if he didn't turn the economy around, President Obama now says he can't give himself a letter grade on the economy.

"I think it's still incomplete. We've still got work to do," Mr. Obama said in an interview on ABC's "The View," which aired Tuesday morning.

In 2009, the president told NBC that he'd be held accountable for the economy after his first term.

Responding specifically to a question about the 2009 stimulus, he said, "One nice thing about the situation I find myself in is that I will be held accountable. You know, I've got four years. And, you know, a year from now I think people are going to see that we're starting to make some progress. But there's still going to be some pain out there. If I don't have this done in three years, then there's going to be a one-term proposition."

Three years later, Mr. Obama told the hosts of "The View," "We still have some headwinds out there."

The president framed the election as a choice between his policies and those of Mitt Romney's, borrowing a saying from Vice President Joe Biden: "Don't compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative."

Still, he acknowledged, "What will determine the election is the economy and whether everybody - gay, straight, black, white, Hispanic, Latino, Native American, disabled, you name it - whether people feel as if America continues to be this extraordinary land of opportunity."

The Romney campaign responded to that particular statement, saying they agree.

"And with millions of Americans struggling for work and incomes declining in the Obama economy, we are confident that voters across the country will make Barack Obama a one-term president," they said in a statement.

The campaign also reminded voters that Mr. Obama gave himself a B plus in late 2009 during another ABC special, this one with Oprah Winfrey.

Mr. Obama told the hosts of "The View" that the presidential race would be tight, but when asked who would win, he responded confidently, "Oh, I'm going to win."

[Zann-Zel]

"Don't compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative."
-------------
Good advice for those looking for the Perfect Candidate!

OBAMA 2012 : )

[ObamasGuppies]

The View? I don't think so. That's a view that no one should get. Liberals is one thing but __________ is another. How can you have the most foul mouthed African American on a show in Whoopi? I guess people are afraid of her. I'am to but for other reasons. I'll say one thing for Marxist Obama, he'll stoop to anything for votes and money. Why not when you have guppies that support you and swallow everything that you say. I guess it pays to have supporters who don't finish high school.

[Zann-Zel]

Where in the world did all those "college Liberals" come from if they never finished High School? hmmmmmmmmm........

LOL!

[marychgo]

Letter grades aren't particularly useful for a job as complex as that of the President. Most of the people who will vote for Obama in November would give him mixed grades: A's and B's in some areas; C's, D's, and F's in others. But those same people would give Mitt Romney, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, and friends straight F's for pretending Republican "voodoo economics," which PRODUCED the Crash of 2008, will have BETTER results if we try it again. Throwing money at rich people does NOT create jobs. Wall Street does NOT self-regulate. Pretending otherwise is a crime against democracy!

[involved_indi]

I imagine he stills sees lot of work to do to completely destroy the economy.

[sjc_1]

Bush never graded himself, according to him he never did anything wrong. I have never heard Romney grade his performance at Bain.

President Obama did a great job keeping us from going into The Great Depression II that Bush caused through ignorance. He hit the ground running in January 2009 and never gave up trying with an obstructionist Congress and the Party of NO trying to sabotage his every move.

In the 1930s FDR faced the same problem, a Republican Congress that obstructed and wanted to see him fail, so that they could get back into power, even though they caused the crash themselves. This is very similar, if the GOP is allowed to obstruct, this could last a decade like the last one.