US election: Barack Obama challenged to arm wrestle for vote

President Barack Obama was challenged to arm-wrestle in exchange for a voter's endorsement on a campaign stop.

The president spent about an hour at the pub, talking to people before having a beer

Stopping at Ziggy's Pub and Restaurant in Amherst, Ohio, at the end of his first day of his two-day bus tour of key swing states, the president was challenged by a patron, Jeff Hawks, said: "I'll arm-wrestle you for my vote."

Mr Obama declined but said: "I'll play basketball for your vote".

Mr Hawks also pointed out that Mr Obama was in a bar playing the conservative news channel Fox News.

The president jokingly asked him to request a switch of TV channel, adding "The customer is always right".

The president spent about an hour at the pub, talking to people before having a beer.

Mr Obama's campaigning comes as The US Labour Department said employers added only 80,000 jobs in June – leaving the unemployment rate unchanged at 8.2 per cent.

Mr Romney, Mr Obama's Republican opponent, immediately sought to take advantage of the report.

"American families are struggling; there's a lot of misery in America today," he said. "The president's policies have not got America working again. And the president is going to have to stand up and take responsibility for it."

Mr Obama conceded to a campaign crowd in Ohio: "It's still tough out there." He noted that the private sector jobs created in June contributed to 4.4 million new jobs over the past 28 months, including 500,000 new manufacturing jobs.

"That's a step in the right direction," he said. But he added: "We've got to grow the economy even faster, and we have to put even more people back to work."