The most powerful man on the planet has a 9.0% unemployment rate, with 15% of Americans on Food Stamps, and an approval rating of 44% among voters...Today is the third anniversary of President Obama's election in 2008, and he is spending it in Cannes, France, attending the G20 summit. This week, he was dubbed the most powerful person on the planet by Forbes magazine. The visit to Cannes is the President's fifth G20, his nineteenth foreign trip since taking office, his tenth trip to Europe, and his fourth visit to France. It comes as the US is struggling with high unemployment and fending off a recession. (Above: The President, Mrs. Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha in Chicago on Election Night)
Sen. Obama received 53% of the vote on Election Night 2008, trumping GOP candidate Sen. John McCain, who got 46%. Mr. Obama had 365 Electoral College votes to McCain's 173.
"If there is anyone out there who doubts that America is a place where all things are possible...tonight is your answer," Sen. Obama said during his victory speech in his hometown of Chicago to a screaming, ebullient crowd, many of whom wept with joy.
"Tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America."
The US unemployment rate climbed from 4.8% to above 7% during 2008. On this anniversary, US unemployment has dropped slightly after sticking at 9.1% for months, and for October was 9.0%, it was announced today, a figure the White House says "remains unacceptably high." The President's massive American Jobs Act has stalled in Congress, blockaded by Republicans, and he's started using Executive Orders to accomplish his policies. Thousands of protesters across the US have taken to the streets with the Occupy Wall Street movement. Food Stamps use has hit a record high, with about 15% of Americans using the federal food aid. Food prices will climb 3-4% in the next year, USDA recently reported.
The President faces a tough re-election battle for 2012, but during his news conference in Cannes today, he dismissed a question about Republican challengers.
"The least of my concerns, at the moment, is the politics of a year from now," President Obama said. "I'm worried about putting people back to work right now because those folks are hurting and the US economy is under performing."
On this anniversary, the President has far more gray hair, a topic he and First Lady Obama frequently joke about during campaign speeches, but his latest physical finds him fit for duty.
On the President's third anniversary, the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for today shows that 19% of the America's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. 42% Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -23. The most recent Gallup Daily Tracking Poll, a three-day rolling average ending Nov. 2, finds that President Obama has a 44% approval rating among voters, and a 49% disapproval rating.
President-elect Obama's Election Night Speech, re-tooled as a Campaign Video for 2012:
*AP photo