Obama: Electoral votes make nice birthday gifts

WINTER PARK, Fla. (AP) -- President Barack Obama has a simple wish for his upcoming 51st birthday: Florida's 29 electoral votes.

Supporters in suburban Orlando sang "Happy Birthday" to Obama during a campaign rally on Thursday, an early nod to his birthday on Saturday. The president says his birthday wishes probably involve "electoral votes," adding, "Winning Florida wouldn't be a bad birthday present."

Obama is expected to keep a low profile on his birthday, spending the weekend at Camp David, the private presidential retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains.

But presidential politics will get the birthday treatment. The president is holding a birthday-themed fundraiser at his family home on Chicago's South Side on Aug. 12.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)