Part of my job is to have thick skin: Obama

"You know, part of this job is having a thick skin and understanding a lot of this stuff`s not personal," Obama told a press conference yesterday, updating the White House correspondents and the American public on the ongoing negotiations with Republican leaders on the deadlocked issue of increasing the debt ceiling, which if not increased by August could potentially result in US defaulting on its international obligations.

Obama was responding to questions of the tone of the debate, during which both the sides are blaming each other. "Well, let me say this. And I`m not trying to poke at you guys -- I generally don`t watch what is said about me on cable. I generally don`t read what`s said about me -- even in The Hill.  And so, you know, part of this job is having a thick skin and understanding a lot of this stuff`s not personal," Obama said.

Obama said he does not expect politicians not to think about politics. "But every so often there are issues that are urgent, that have to be attended to, and require us to do things we don`t like to do, that run contrary to our base, that gets some constituency that helped elect us agitated because they`re looking at it from a narrow prism," he said.

"We`re supposed to be stepping back and looking at it from the perspective of what`s good for the country. If we are able to remind ourselves of that, then there`s no reason why we shouldn`t be able to get things done," Obama said.