Four years ago, then-Senator Barack Obama sat down with Glamour—as did the Republican nominee, Senator John McCain—to make his case for the presidency. Over the course of his campaign, Obama convinced millions of women to support him, winning, in the end, 56 percent of the female vote and a whopping 70 percent of single women’s ballots. Since his inauguration, the President has signed universal health care into law and taken down Osama bin Laden. But he hasn’t been able to turn around the country’s stubborn unemployment rate (when our November issue went to press, 7.3 percent for women). As a part of Glamour's ongoing election reporting, Editor-in-Chief Cindi Leive caught up with the President on July 24 in Portland, Oregon, to ask about your priorities—first and foremost, jobs and the economy. Here, excerpts from our interview. (Governor Mitt Romney declined repeated requests over several months for a sit-down with Glamour, citing scheduling issues.) Tell us your thoughts—and come back daily to glamour.com for all of our ongoing election coverage including conversations about the upcoming debates and the case for President Obama or Governor Romney from their young women supporters.
GLAMOUR: Back in 2008 you told Glamour that your mother once said, and I’ll quote, “the best indicator of whether a country does well is how it treats its girls and its women.”