Spokesman: Obama is confident he'll win reelection against GOP

President Obama is confident he's going to win reelection, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Friday.

Speaking to reporters, Earnest backed the president's assertions in recent days that he will win the election.

"The president is confident that when we get to a vigorous debate with his Republican opponent about whose vision is best for the future of this country; about which person will be a president over the course of the four years between 2013 and 2017, to put in place the kinds of economic policies that will ensure middle-class families get a fair shot, a fair shake and that everybody's playing by the same rules; that when we compare the president's vision for achieving an economy and a country that fulfills those values, that he's going to win," he said.

At the same time, Earnest said Team Obama is not "under the illusion that it's going to be an easy election."

"But at the end of the day the president is confident that he'll be successful," the spokesman said.

Earnest was asked how Obama could arrive at such a confident conclusion even as the White House has maintained that the president hasn't been tuning in to the presidential debates.

"Even if the president is not watching the debates live, he is certainly following the race," he said. "At the end of the day the reason that the president is confident is not because of anything that the Republican candidates are saying. It's because of the vision for the country that he wants to put forward to the American people."

The spokesman said Obama will "turn more attention to his own candidacy" once there's a Republican nominee in place.

---