Washington:
Confident of re-election, US President Barack Obama has dismissed his lacklustre showing in the first debate against Mitt Romney as "one bad night", saying that fundamentals of the race are still in his favour.
"Governor Romney had a good night. I had a bad night. It's not the first time," President Obama told the ABC news in in his first televised interview since the presidential debate in Denver on October 3.
President Obama will now face Mr Romney in the second of the three presidential debates on October 16 in New York.
"I think what's important is that the fundamentals of what this race is about have not changed. You know, Governor Romney went to a lotta trouble to try to hide what his positions are," President Obama said asserting that he would fight his way back.
"This was one event. We have got four weeks to go. Nobody is going to be fighting harder than I am. What they need is to make sure they tune in on Tuesday next week," he said.
"If you have a bad game you just move on, you look forward to the next one and it makes you that much more determined," he added.
Asked whether it's possible that his poor showing had handed Mr Romney the election, President Obama replied, "no."
He said "yes" with confidence when asked if he was going to win the November 6 election.
President Obama appeared for his first interview after his lackluster performance during the October 3 debate, after which Mr Romney is said to have an edge over President Obama.
Earlier in the day in a telephonic interview to a radio show, President Obama said that he had been "too polite" in dealing with Mr Romney.
"I think it's fair to say I was just too polite, because, you know, it is hard sometimes just keep on saying and what you are saying is not true," President Obama told the radio host Tom Joyner.
"It gets repetitive. But, you know, the good news is, is that's just the first one. Governor Romney put forward a whole bunch of stuff that either involved him running away from positions that he had taken or doubling down on things like Medicare vouchers that are going to hurt him long term," he said.
When asked why he "had the open shot and ... didn't take it" in last week's debate, President Obama said "I understand, but you know, what happens though is that when people lose one game, you know, this is a long haul."
"I think it's fair to say that we will see a little more activity at the next one. But keep in mind that, you know, the issues that are at stake for folks haven't changed. You know? We've got millions of people who've got health care right now because of our health care bill. And they won't have it if Mitt Romney is elected president," President Obama said.