President Obama declared "I’m not worried" about reelection before an audience of well-heeled campaign donors in New York City today, according to White House pool reports.
"Their message will be, ‘You’re upset, you’re unsatisfied. It’s Obama’s fault.’ But I’m not worried. The reason I’m not worried is because of you," Obama said.
Obama contrasted his vision of government’s role in the economy and society in wide-ranging remarks to the audience, and continued his partisan attacks against Republicans.
"The ideas they’re putting forward have been tried," Obama said. "We’ve tried them from 2000 to 2008 and it resulted in the most sluggish job growth we’ve ever seen."
Over the eight years of Bush’s presidency, from January 2001 to January 2009, the economy added an average of 11,406 jobs per month, according to a Washington Free Beacon study.
Over the duration of the Obama presidency, by contrast, the economy has lost an average of 14,666 jobs per month.
That did not squelch the enthusiasm of the president’s New York supporters, who included Desperate Housewives star and golf aficionado Eva Longoria as well as Ricky Martin, the former pop singer who has since revived his career on Broadway.
"I want to thank Ricky Martin," Obama said. "Those of you who haven’t caught Evita yet, go out there, I’m sure there are tickets still available."
Tickets to the campaign event cost $5,000 a piece.
That is significantly higher than tickets to "Evita," which run between $75 and $150 a pop.
"This musical combination of history pageant and requiem Mass feels about as warm-blooded as a gilded mummy," wrote New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley.
Obama acknowledged during his remarks that his economic record would be a hard sell across the country.
"This is going to be a tough election," he said. "Sometimes when I come to New York, people say, ‘I don’t know anybody who’s not supporting you, Barack. I say, ‘You live in Manhattan.’"