Obama on presidency: One needs 'pretty thick skin'

[April 20, 2010]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama says he finds harsh rhetoric from political opponents "troublesome" and says such talk isn't surprising in times of economic distress and sweeping societal changes.

He tells CBS a president has to have "pretty thick skin" and said he worries about a climate in which "the other side is demonized" by political opponents.

Obama says in "The Early Show" interview Friday there is a "tone and tenor" that needs to be improved and said people in both the public and private walks of life must be able to "disagree without being disagreeable or making wild accusations about the other side." He was asked about verbal attacks by political opponents who have questioned his patriotism and his religion and accused him of being a socialist.

[Associated Press]

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