President Obama denied that his low approval ratings amount to a judgement on his record, instead arguing that he is “being judged against the ideal” by the American people, which he believes will change once a Republican nominee emerges.
When CBS’s Steve Kroft told Obama “you’re being judged now on your performance,” the president dismissed that claim. “No, no, no,” Obama said. “I’m being judged against the ideal. And, you know, [Vice President] Joe Biden has a good expression. He says, “Don’t judge me against the Almighty, judge me against the alternative.”
Obama seemed to explain how he intends to define that Republican alternative. “What I think is gonna be important, not just next year, but over the next five years, is the American people looking at the choices we face, because we are at a crossroads,” Obama told Kroft. “Do we want a society in which we’ve still got, you know, the best science and the best research in the world, and the most innovative entrepreneurs in the world? Or do we think that an economy in which you’re on your own and big corporations can write their own rules and we’re gutting regulations — which one is more likely to help middle-class families and people trying to get in the middle class?”
