I may be skinny, but I`m tough: Obama

America`s first Black President Barack Obama may be skinny but he`s tough!

Washington: He may be skinny but he`s tough -- that`s America`s first Black President Barack Obama`s strong message to his political friends and foes. "I`ve tried to explain... just because I`m skinny doesn`t mean I`m not tough. I don`t rattle. I`m not going to shrink back, because now is the time for us to continue to push and follow through on those things that we know have to be done but have not been done in decades," Obama said.

The US President said these in Miami during a fund raising event for Democratic congressional candidates for the 2010 elections, apparently hinting at the reforms his administration wants to see through. In fact, Obama is a fitness freak. He visits the gym six times a week and lifts weights, rides the stationary bike, hops on the elliptical and runs on the treadmill to keep in shape. He also loves a game of basketball. And in Miami, he had tough words for those Republican critics who he claims are not helping solve some of the problems that festered when they were in control of the White House and the US Congress. "Lately I feel like somebody made a big mess and I`ve got my mop and I`m mopping the floor and the folks who made the mess are there (saying) `you`re not mopping fast enough. You`re not mopping the right way. It`s a socialist mop`," the media quoted the US President as saying yesterday. Bureau Report