Obama declines arm-wrestling challenge, suggests hoops instead

GlobalPost

If President Barack Obama is attempting to paint himself as an everyman, he’s headed in the right direction.

As the president pulled on a cold Bud Light in Ziggy’s Pub in Amherst, Ohio, on Thursday night he happened upon a patron named Jeff Hawks, The Hill reported.

“I’ll arm-wrestle you for your vote,” Hawks said, according to a pool report from the campaign stop.

“No, I’ll play basketball for your vote,” the president replied.

So the dueling challenges reached a stalemate, but Hawks wasn’t finished.

He reminded Obama that he was standing inside a bar with Fox News on the overhead televisions, The Washington Examiner reported.

More from GlobalPost: On the road with the 2012 US Election

That prompted Obama to suggest Hawks request a new channel.

“The customer is always right,” Obama said, according to The Examiner.

Obama spent about an hour in the restaurant with Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland (D).

He’s on a two-day bus trip through the key swing states of Ohio and Pennsylvania, CBS News said

The president also asked four school district employees in the bar, “What do I need to know about education?”

“That’s important work,” Obama said.

More from GlobalPost: Obama kicks off re-election in Ohio 

Sign up for our daily newsletter

Sign up for The Top of the World, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.