G-20 nations promise to back up Europe
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Obama: Election 'least of my concerns'

By David Jackson, USA TODAY
Updated

President Obama said today he is not yet thinking of his 2012 re-election bid, only about creating jobs and reviving the economy.

"The least of my concerns at the moment are the politics of a year from now," Obama said at the end of the G-20 summit in Cannes, France.

Obama said the G-20 reviewed Europe's plans to tackle its debt crisis, particularly in Greece.

Obama spoke just hours after the Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate is 9%; no president since Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression has sought re-election with joblessness so high.

Back in the United States, Republicans say Obama is already campaigning for re-election by pushing a jobs plan he knows that the GOP will oppose because it includes tax hikes.

"The Democrats have deliberately designed this bill to fail," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "So the truth is, Democrats are more interested in building a campaign message than in rebuilding roads and bridges. And frankly, the American people deserve a lot better."

Obama says his plan would put Americans to work right away, and would be financed by higher takes on the nation's wealthiest Americans.

"I'm going to keep on pushing it," Obama said in France, "regardless of what the politics are."

10:58 a.m. -- Norah O'Donnell of CBS asks Obama: At what point is the U.S. politically simply stalemated over jobs legislation?

Obama says he remains willing to work with Republicans, just as he did on recent free trade deals. He again argues that his jobs plan will put people back to work right away. Says he only wants more taxes from the nation's wealthiest, a group the Republicans appear to be protecting.

"We're going to keep on pushing," he says, and that includes executive actions.

"We can do more," he added, but Congress -- i.e., the Republicans -- "have to act."

10:53 a.m. -- David Muir of ABC News asks Obama what he would say to 401(k) holders about the problems in Greece and Europe that have forced markets up and down.

Obama says that the Dow is up about 3,000 points since he took office, benefiting 401(k) accounts, and he is confident European leaders want to deal with their problems -- but it is a difficult task, just as it is in the United States.

One key is reassuring global markets, Obama says: "Some of this crisis is psychological."

10:49 a.m. -- Chuck Todd of NBC asks Obama whether he thinks Europe can really do what is necessary to reduce its debt.

Obama says Europe "agrees with us" that it's important to send a strong signal that it will address the debt crisis and preserve the euro monetary system. That includes the biggest present crisis -- Greece -- as well as recapitalizing European banks and creating a "firewall" to assure markets worldwide that nations will stand behind the euro.

10:45 a.m. -- The Associated Press asks Obama: Aren't you vulnerable for re-election because of high unemployment and the bad economy?

Obama says "the least of my concerns at the moment are the politics a year from now" and that he is focused on job creation and economic growth -- and again urged congressional Republicans to back his jobs plan.

"I'm going to keep on pushing it -- regardless of what the politics are," Obama adds.

10:39 a.m. -- Getting a bit of a late start on his news conference in Cannes, France, President Obama begins by thanking his French hosts, and saying that while the global economy is getting better, it is not where it should be.

The president says the G-20 wants to help Greece and other nations in Europe address their debt problems, so that default does not hurt the economy in the United States and other nations.

"If Europe is not growing, it's hard for us to do what we need to do for the American people," Obama says.

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