Obama predicts stifffight for Dems in poll

LOS ANGELES - US President Barack Obama acknowledged on Monday that Democrats face a hard fight in holding on to their majorities in Congress in the November election because of uncertainty over the economy.

"November is going to be tough. It is always a tough race if you're the incumbent in this kind of economic environment. Even though it is picking up, people are still hurting," Obama said on a campaign jaunt to raise money for California Senator Barbara Boxer, an ally who is in a tight race for re-election.

Obama renewed his attack on Wall Street practices that triggered the financial crisis that pushed the country into recession and again vowed to push financial regulatory reform through Congress within weeks. "The notion that we would stick with the status quo that created a situation in which Wall Street could gamble with somebody else's money" and make taxpayers pick up the cost "makes absolutely no sense," he said.