The Hill News

President Barack Obama said in an interview Friday that voters should hold him accountable for the struggling economy, but said that his policies are restoring it to health. 

As the November midterm elections approach, Obama welcomed voters to judge his administration's work on the economy, which consistently polls as the number one issue on their minds. 

{mosads}"If somebody's out of work right now, the only answer that I'm going to have for them is when they get a job. Up until that point, from their perspective, the economic policies aren't working well enough," he said in an interview with NBC News. "That's my job as president is to take responsibility for moving us in the right direction."

Even though polls show that the voters are worried about the state of the economy and high unemployment, Obama used the interview to express confidence about is policies and contrast them with Republican ideas. 

Despite the fact that Obama said he ! is responsible for instilling the recovery, he stressed that President Bush's policies helped wreck the economy. 

"What I'm absolutely convinced of is that we're going to have a choice, not just in November but for years to come," he said. "We can go back to all the same policies that got us into this mess, where we basically provide special interest loopholes, we don't regulate Wall Street, we have a health care system that's out of control, we provide tax cuts to folks who don't need them and weren't asking for them."

Democrats' strategy heading into the midterms appears to drawing a sharp contrast between them and the Republicans, who are expected to make gains on Democratic majorities in Congress. Some observers have even predicted the GOP could take back the House. 

Asked about White House press secretary Robert Gibbs' admission of that fact, Obama only said "this is going to be a choice between the policies that got us into this mess and my policie! s that are getting us out of this mess."

With unemployme! nt still hovering at 9.5 percent, Obama said he would not be surprised if there is a backlash at the polls.

"What I'd say to the person who's out of a job right now is, we are going to be doing everything we can to create the environment where the private sector can come in and start creating jobs. I'm not any more satisfied than they are and until they can find a job, I expect to be held accountable," he said.