Washington: President Barack Obama on Monday
pushed his case for a second term amid signs that the US
economy was improving, but expressed fears over "negative"
campaign by his rivals during the 2012 November presidential
elections.
"I deserve a second term," said Obama, who is seeking
re-election in the November presidential polls.
Obama conceded that there could be an element "negative"
campaign when the electioneering picks up in months ahead.
"I guarantee you a bunch of that's going to be negative,"
he told the NBC news in an interview when asked about the
campaign and his potential Republican challenger.
Obama was referring to the Political Action Committees
(PACs), attached to various candidates during the ongoing the
Republican primary election.
Not bounded by financial limitations and election rules,
these PACs so far have been seen launching negative campaign
against rival candidates.
"One of the worries we have, obviously, in the next
campaign is that there are so many of these so-called super
PACs, these independent expenditures that are going to be out
there, there's going to be just a lot of money floating
around," Obama said.
Buoyed by the signs of improvement in the American
economy, Obama said that he deserves another term.
A portion of interview was aired during the Super Bowl.
Responding to a question on his remarks during an
interview before the 2009 Super Bowl in which he had said
that he will be a one-term president if the economy does not
improve by then.
"We've made progress, and the thing right now is to just
make sure we don't starting turning in a new direction that
could throw that progress off," the US President said in his
latest interview.
Obama referred to latest figures which reflected there is
improvement in the economy.
"We've got to boost up American manufacturing, so that
all our manufacturing is building again and selling overseas.
We've got to make sure that we're pushing American energy ...
and we've got to make sure the skills of American workers are
the best in the world," Obama said.
Even as he cautioned against "negative" campaign in
months ahead, Obama it is not going to be enough to win
elections.
He said his team will stay away from any such "negative"
campaign.
"I think that you'll be able to see how we conduct
ourselves in the campaign. I think it'll be consistent with
how I conducted myself in 2008, and hopefully how I've
conducted myself as president of the United States," he said.
Obama said a negative campaign is not going to be enough
to win elections.
"It's not going to be enough just to say the other guy's
a bum. You've got to explain to the American people what
your plan is to make sure that there are good jobs at good
wages and that this economy is growing over the long term. Whoever wins that argument, I think, is going to be the next
President," Obama said.
Earlier, the president had said the country's economy is
growing strong and recovery is speeding up.
Obama's remarks on the state of the economy came amid
latest report showing that unemployment rate has dropped
to 8.3 per cent as added more than 2.4 lakh new jobs in
January.
"In January, American businesses added another 257,000
jobs. The unemployment rate came down because more people
found work. And altogether, we've added 3.7 million new jobs
over the last 23 months," he said last week.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, February 07, 2012, 00:10