Former US president Bill Clinton said Thursday that he expects to see fellow Democrat Barack Obama re-elected to the White House in 2012. "I'll be surprised if he's not re-elected," Clinton told ABC News. "I've always thought he would be." Clinton, who led the country from 1993 to 2001, was the last Democratic president to be re-elected since Franklin Roosevelt in the 1940s.
According to Clinton, the economy will have improved enough by November 6, 2012 - US election day - for voters to favour Obama for a second term, even though unemployment will likely remain relatively high. Currently unemployment is at 9.1 percent. "When President Obama took office, we were in the midst of avoiding having a financial collapse turn into a depression. So, the unemployment rate was higher (than during Clinton's presidency) and people were scared to death about what was going to happen," he said.