Obama tells Univision he’ll be in White House ‘another five years’

President Obama declared Monday that his presidency “is not over” and that he’ll be occupying the White House for another five years.

In an interview with Univision, a seemingly confident Obama said he’ll have more time to work on hot-button issues like immigration in his next term.

{mosads}”Well, first of all … my presidency is not over,” Obama, who just a few months ago described himself as an underdog in the presidential race, said in a telephone interview.

“I’ve got another five years coming up. We’re going to get this done,” he said.

Obama’s confidence has lifted in recent weeks as the economy has improved and his own poll numbers have risen. In the Real Clear Politics average of polls, Obama holds a 5.7 percentage point advantage over Mitt Romney and a 6.4 percentage point lead on Rick Santorum. 

However, Obama and his campaign can’t afford to be too confident. A Gallup poll released Thursday Thursday found Obama trailing Romney by four points, and ahead of Santorum by only one point. The Gallup poll has a 4 percent margin of error.

Obama’s campaign sees Hispanic voters as a key to his reelection, and the president sought to pin blame on Congress for the lack of progress on immigration reform.

“But ultimately, the only way we’re going to do this is to get something passed through Congress, and that’s why we have to keep the pressure up,” Obama said.

“Unfortunately, the Republican side, which used to at least give lip service to immigration reform, now they’ve gone completely to a different place, and have shown themselves unwilling to talk at all about any sensible solutions to this issue, and we’re going to have to just keep up the pressure until they act,” he said.

The president also emphasized that while he is supportive of immigration reform, those running against him are not.

Without mentioning Gov. Mitt Romney by name, Obama said, “their leading candidate said he would veto even the DREAM Act, much less comprehensive immigration reform.”

The president’s political strategy was underscored by a Democratic National Committee Web ad that was launched on Thursday.

The ad criticizes Romney’s support for an anti-illegal immigration law in Arizona that the Obama administration opposes. Romney mentioned his support for the law during Wednesday night’s debate.

The president also urged Latino voters to vote Democrat.

“When it comes to Congress, all your listeners have to look and see: Are those members of Congress — are they committing to getting this done?” Obama said.

Obama maintained that he hadn’t broken a promise to pass immigration reform, despite a perception by some voters in the Latino community.

“I would have only broken my promise if I hadn’t tried,” he said. “But ultimately, I’m one man. You know, we live in a democracy. We don’t live in a monarchy. I’m not the king. I’m the president. And so, I can only implement those laws that are passed through Congress.”

—This story was updated at 12:17 p.m.