But it wasn't all iPhones and Bulls tickets for the president. He copped an ugly, oversized holiday sweater, too, in the form of an unemployment rate that ticked up one-tenth of a point, to 8.3 percent, prompting the Romney campaign to call the news a "hammer blow to struggling middle-class families."
So a mixed bag for the incumbent, who will for the fourth -- and possibly final -- time Saturday celebrate his birthday from the commander-in-chief's seat. If there's going to be a fifth such occasion, the president will need a few more goodies to fall in his lap in the next few months. With that in mind, we're taking a look ahead at what might be going through his head Saturday as he blows out the candles on the First Cake.
Wish No. 1: More job growth. As much and likely more than anything else, a second Obama administration hinges on these big economic numbers trending upward. Same, in reverse, for the unemployment rate, which has not dropped south of 8 percent at anytime during his presidency. Wish No. 2: Harry Reid to produce the mystery man who has allegedly been telling the Democratic Senate majority leader that Mitt Romney didn't pay taxes for a decade. Twice now, Reid has claimed he was approached by a person who had done business with Romney's old company Bain Capital and told that the candidate didn't pay a nickel in taxes for 10 straight years. "He didn't pay taxes for 10 years. Now, do I know that that's true? Well, I'm not certain," Reid told the Huffington Post. "But, obviously, he can't release those tax returns. How would it look?" If Reid is telling the truth and, more importantly, his "source" is, too, it could look pretty good for President Obama. Wish No. 3: A third-party candidate joins the race and voters actually notice, however unlikely. Mitt Romney has never been particularly popular with the Tea Party-wing of the GOP, so a wildcat campaign by someone rich enough to fund his or her own candidacy, but with the conservative credentials to rally dispirited partisans, could spell doom for the challenger. Some potential, if unlikely, choices: Texas Rep. Ron Paul (He has said he won't do it, but there's still time for a change of heart); Michael Bloomberg (The lame-duck NYC mayor has the cash and will need a new job); Donald Trump (If there's one man who could touch off a tidal flow of moderates to the president's camp, it is The Donald). Wish No.4: Mitt Romney goes overseas and makes a handful of cartoonish faux pas, distracting the public from a building controversy over the president's "You didn't build that" remark. "Happy Birthday, Mr. President, this gift has already been delivered." In context or not, fair or not, Republicans were hitting the president hard on the comment, in which Obama attempts to explain what he perceives to be the root of economic success in America, namely, the hard work, support and tax money of your fellow citizens. But the comedy of errors that was Romney's overseas adventure stuck a fork, for now, in that storyline.
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