via: cnn.com
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to buy Sarah Palin’s just-released memoir, but don’t count President Obama among them.
In an interview with CNN’s Ed Henry in China, the president acknowledged Wednesday he would not be reading the highly-anticipated memoir by his potential 2012 opponent.
“I probably won’t, but I don’t get a chance to read things other than briefing books very often these days anyway,” he said.
Obama also suggested he views the former Alaska governor as a credible candidate should she decide to seek the presidency in a couple of years.
“You know, she obviously has a big constituency in the Republican Party,” he said. “You know, there a lot of people who are excited by her.”
But when it comes to the 2012 race, Obama didn’t discount the possibility he may sit out on a reelection bid.
“You know, if – if I feel like I’ve made the very best decisions for the American people and three years from now I look at it and, you know, my poll numbers are in the tank and because we’ve gone through these wrenching changes, you know, politically, I’m in a tough spot, I’ll – I’ll feel all right about myself,” Obama told CNN’s Ed Henry during an interview in China.
Related: North Korea, trade on agenda as Obama visits South Korea
“I said to myself very early on, even when I started running for office, I don’t want to be making decisions based on getting reelected, because I think the challenges that America faces right now are so significant,” the president also said. “Obviously, if I make those decisions and I think that I’m moving the country on the right direction economically, in terms of our security interests, our foreign policy, I’d like to think that those policies are continued because they’re not going to bear fruit just in four years.”
But in the next breath the president quickly sounded like someone who would relish taking his case to the American people in 2012, saying he’s tackling big issues like health care and Iran that he’s confident will bear fruit in the future.
The last president not to seek reelection was Lyndon Johnson in 1968.
