But all the money in the world can't buy immortality, or popularity.
As these pictures show, the president has definitely aged during his two-and-a-half years in the White House.
And as he's added years, he's lost support.
Today he's 50…and his approval rating is 45 percent. A year ago, when he turned 49, it was 50 percent…and two years ago — his first birthday in the White House — it was 54 percent.
But what can you give to a struggling president who seems to have everything?
Including his own plane…
his own movie theater…
and a house people will spend millions to sleep in for a night?
Well, remember when the president gave the Queen of England an iPod with videos?
I do…and that's why my birthday to the president is these DVDs:
“The Wizard of Oz” is more than 70 years old, but it still has a powerful message for the president. Like the lion, the president needs courage, to fight for his views with a roar…
And perhaps the president will refresh his memory by watching “Back to the Future”…so he can return to the time when he inspired America, with what appeared to be unlimited promise:
Obama sot: “yes, we can!”
Finally, there's “The West Wing. A series about a Democratic president–Jed Bartlett–who was admired by both parties.
It sounds like even Obama's Press Secretary wishes the president were more like him:
“You're talking about a President Bartlett moment? Should he walk up Pennsylvania Avenue and go to Congress himself?” Jay Carney asked.
“No. I'm talking about a President Obama…” a reporter said.
“We're looking into it,” Carney said.
There are already odds on how many more birthdays Barack Obama will celebrate in the White House.
I think you can guess mine.
Fifty-Fifty.
I’m Andy Hiller, that’s my instinct.
(Copyright (c) 2011 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)