The past few days have seen a mounting narrative in the press that Democrats are worried about President Obama’s reelection prospects. The loss of former Rep. Anthony Weiner’s (D-NY) congressional seat in New York Tuesday, in a district that hadn’t gone Republican since 1923, only added fuel to the fire with pundits starting to speculate that Obama now has a problem holding on to his base.
Speaking to small audience of Democrats Thursday night, Obama acknowledged the jitters on his side, and jokingly reminded his audience of just how improbable their conversation was in the first place.
“Now, I know that, over the last couple of months, there have been Democrats who voiced concerns and nervousness about, well, in this kind of economy, isn’t this just — aren’t these just huge headwinds in terms of your reelection?,” Obama said.
“And I just have to remind people that — here’s one thing I know for certain,” he continued. “The odds of me being reelected are much higher than the odds of me being elected in the first place.”
Obama’s remarks came at high-dollar DNC fundraising event held at the residence of former Ambassador to Portugal Elizabeth Frawley Bagley. Couples paid $35,800 to attend, and about 50 were on hand.
The “campaign has not yet begun,” Obama told his well-heeled audience, adding he’s going to stick to his “day job” of governing for the “next several months.” But the president said “we remain very confident about our ability to win a contest of ideas in 2012 — as long as we can get the message out.”
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